Merlin narrowed his eyes at the unexpected- and unwanted- visitor. "Ursula."
"Hey, Merl." Ursula grinned at him. Then, she sent Blue a quick wink. "Dollface."
"What are you doing here?" Merlin demanded, taking in her filthy, disheveled appearance and torn clothes. Ursula grew uncomfortable with his staring and absent-mindedly wiped some smudged lipstick from her cheek, wincing when she scratched herself with a chipped fingernail.
"Well... Eris decided to wait until after the fun began to kick me off the team and leave me to rot with you goodie-two-shoes. And once I was left on my own, I knew there was only one place I could go. It took me a couple of days to find you guys, but..." She flourished a chubby hand and smiled. "Here I am."
"If you're seeking sympathy, you've come to the wrong place." Merlin replied firmly.
"Oh, but I knew you guys were the only people I could turn to in my time of need." Ursula replied mockingly, folding her hands in front of her chest and feigning a sad look.
Blue caught the hint of a torn expression on Merlin's face and hissed to him, "Merlin, we cannot possibly take in this creature. It's a trap."
"You two wouldn't actually turn away a poor unfortunate soul, would you?" Ursula taunted with a sneer. "You know, without your help, I'll surely die out there."
"Merlin..." Blue sternly shook her head. Merlin was faltering.
Suddenly, a loop of enchanted chains appeared out of thin air above Ursula's head without her noticing. Merlin and Blue watched in surprise as the chain snaked its way around Ursula's body and pulled itself taut, binding her arms at her side and forcing her thick legs together. Ursula cried out in surprise as she lost her balance and crashed to the ground in front of them. Then, the door to the bunker began to creak as it shut itself.
Blue gave Merlin an annoyed look. He sputtered and shrugged, claiming, "I didn't do it!"
"No. I did."
They both turned to see Yen approaching purposefully, with a faint gleam of excitement in his eyes. Glinda was hurrying along after him.
Blue frowned. "Yen? But, why-?"
"In short, Ursula was truly abandoned by her kin and came here seeking refuge. This isn't a trap. Look at her, she's powerless." He gestured toward Ursula and for the first time they took notice of her missing seashell pendant that stored her power. Yen continued, "However, since our hideout is obviously easier to find than we thought, Merlin and I shall immediately begin work on relocating it while you and Glinda move our new guest to the Cauldron's former chamber. I think Ursula can be very useful to us."
Ursula glared up at the old wizard from where she lay while the other three stood around her, stunned. Blue quickly nodded and said, "Alright, then. Glinda, let's do this." Both of them pulled out their wands, and a faint shimmering light surrounded Ursula and magically lifted her enormous body into the air. As Glinda and Blue walked quickly away with the unhappy Ursula floating over their heads, Yen called after them, "Be sure to magically seal the room!" Then, he turned to Merlin and said, "Come, to my study. We need to make this bunker harder to find." He began to speed-walk away with a flustered Merlin bumbling after him.
"Well, that was...weird." Milo commented from the doorway of the library, where he'd watched the whole thing. Merida and Jim were both next to him with crossed arms and confused faces.
Esmeralda, who was passing by with Phoebus, paused briefly to whisper, "Do not tell Meg that she's here. Alright?"
The three of them nodded and Esme and Phoebus walked away to the infirmary, probably to visit Quasi. Milo sighed and muttered, "That woman's presence can only mean bad things..." He shook his head. "But what?"
Jim shrugged.
Merida gasped dramatically in mock-horror. "What if she's here to give us...fashion tips? "
The three of them couldn't help laughing, but Milo was the first one to sober up and say, "No... Whatever it is... Well, I'm not sure I wanna know."
"Then how can you be prepared for it?" Jim asked flatly while Merida continued to chortle.
"Milo..."
The three kids looked over to see Kashekim, Kida's blind father, wandering toward them, seeming ill. Milo rushed over to grab ahold of him and led him into the library to sit in a cushy chair. Jim and Merida followed eagerly.
"What's wrong, sir?" Milo asked worriedly.
Kashekim grunted painfully as he reached into his shirt collar with a shaky hand and pulled out his crystal, holding it up for Milo to see. Milo squinted in confusion. Since the Heart of Atlantis had risen, the crystal had been glowing non-stop. But now, it was weakly flickering.
"What's happened to it?" Milo asked quietly, concerned over what this could mean.
Kashekim sighed wearily. "The Heart of Atlantis has been tampered with... Someone has used magic to take down whatever shield Yen Sid put around it. And in doing so, the crystal- Kida- has been severely weakened. Someone plans to move her out of the city."
"What? How could they do that?" Merida asked.
"They can entice the crystal to come down from the sky with a magical object that holds much power. That will be enough to bring the shield around the city down. Then, all they have to do is trap Kida somehow, and they can take her any where... They probably wish to sell the crystal for a pretty penny before the world falls into ruin." Kashekim groaned and dropped his crystal so it landed on his chest.
"But... If they take the crystal away... You'll die." Milo realized aloud.
"And so shall Kida." Kashekim whispered.
"What?" Milo's eyes widened in alarm. "What's going to happen to her?"
"The longer that Kida remains bonded to the crystal, the more likely it is that she will be lost to it. Forever."
"Oh, no..." Merida whispered.
"We won't let that happen." Milo said firmly.
"But who would even do this?" Jim frowned.
"So... You haven't noticed their absence either?" Kashekim groaned. "Rourke... And Clayton. They left just a bit ago, without anyone noticing. But I didn't realize what they planned to do until..." He trailed off and looked down at his crystal. The light was slowly dying out.
Jim angrily shook his head. "I knew those guys were rats."
"We can go after them. Right now, while most everyone's busy with training!" Merida said.
"Yen won't be happy about it, but..." Kashekim sighed. "I have already lost my wife to the Ancient Kings. I won't lose a daughter as well." He placed a heavy hand on Milo's shoulder. "If you go now, before Yen and Merlin relocate the bunker, you have a chance at catching up. Please, save my daughter."
"But how will we get back?" Jim asked doubtfully.
Milo thought it over, then told Kashekim, "Give us half an hour. Then, go tell Yen to come find us. Don't worry, sir. We'll get her back. But we need weapons..." Milo stood and began to stride out of the library. "Come on, guys."
Jim and Merida shared a look before running after him. They followed Milo to the weapons room, which was surprisingly left unlocked. Merida shut the door after them, then looked around the room for a specific weapon. She continued to search around while Jim and Milo picked out the typical pistols. Finally, Merida's blue eyes rested happily on what she was looking for.
"Oi, beauty!" She gleefully muttered as she plucked up a rustic bow. She slung the quiver of arrows over her shoulder while Jim gave her a quizzical look.
"A bow and arrows? Really?" He smirked.
Merida grinned proudly at him and pulled the bow over her torso. "You've never seen me use one a these, have ya'?"
Jim paused and quirked up one eyebrow. "No..."
"Well, prepare to be amazed!" Merida giggled.
"Okay, guys... If only we could find a quick way to bust out of here and reach Main Street..." Milo was mumbling as he looked around.
"We could grab some horses from the stables." Jim shrugged while Merida distractedly strolled toward the back of the room.
Milo shook his head. "No, too many things could go wrong there..."
"Guys."
The two boys turned to see Merida pulling back an old sheet to reveal strange, fish-shaped machines. An eerie blue glow emanated from the control pads of each one, and with a closer look, Merida realized that the glow emanated from long-deactivated Atlantean crystals, which must have been awakened when Kida bonded with the Heart. Merida grinned to herself.
"They're keys..." She mumbled.
"What?" Milo asked, confused.
She turned to smile at them. "Nevermind." She pointed at the mechanisms. "These can work."
Jim rolled his eyes. "Merida, we don't even know what they do."
She was already climbing on top of one that resembled a koi fish. "Well, let's find out!"
"James Pleiades Hawkins." A new voice hissed from the doorway. The three kids looked up in alarm to see Tarzan and Jane slipping into the room and discretely shutting the door. Tarzan took a few steps toward Jim with a disapproving look on his face while Jane stood anxiously by the door.
"What do you think you're doing?" Tarzan calmly demanded.
Jim sighed and quickly rambled the explanation. "Kida's in trouble and the evil assistant principals wanna take her out of the city and sell her and if they do that then both Kida and her dad will die and Atlantis will be lost forever so we have to go separate her from the crystal and save the day!"
Tarzan's eyebrows popped up. "Are you out of your mind?"
Jim groaned. "Dad..."
"Well, you must be if you think we're gonna let you kids do this alone." Tarzan said seriously, crossing his arms.
Jim rolled his eyes. "For the last time, you can't tell me what to-" Jim paused and blinked a few times as Tarzan's words settled over him. "Wait, what?"
Tarzan was smirking. "You heard me. Someone's gotta keep an eye on you kids. Now how are we getting out of here?"
Jim slowly smiled up at his dad.
"With these!" Merida cheered, tossing away the cover to reveal all the ancient Atlantean fish-machines. "I have reason to believe they can be used for transport, like some sort of hovercraft. Luckily, there are four of them. You and Jane could share one."
"Actually, no." Jim said suddenly. He looked at his aunt and said, "We need you to stay here and do some things. Like stall and eventually tell someone like Yen to come get us. We need half an hour."
Jane nodded. "Anything else?"
Jim smirked.
Merlin and Fairy Godmother were heading to the library when a faint whirring sound caught their attention. They paused in the middle of the bunker to listen.
"What on earth is that?" Merlin muttered aloud. But the faint glimmer in his whimsical eyes made it very clear that he knew.
Fairy Godmother's eyes widened in alarm. "It's coming from the armory..."
Suddenly, the doors to the armory burst open and Jane Porter sprinted out from them and raced toward the front of the bunker. Before Fairy Godmother coukd stop her, Jane breezed by calling out, "Sorry, excuse me, do clear the way, thank you!" Fairy Godmother stared after the fleeing girl in shock before the intensified whirring noise made both her and Merlin turn back to look toward the armory.
Fairy Godmother's jaw dropped open. "Oh, not really..."
Merlin couldn't help but smile.
Milo, Jim, Merida and Tarzan were each sitting atop an Atlantean hovercraft. Merlin wished that he could say aloud how this had to be the most absurdly marvelous thing he'd ever seen. The four hovercraft raced in the same direction that Jane had gone and Fairy Godmother realized what they were about to do. The four crafts flew over their heads and Fairy Godmother turned after them with her wand drawn, ready to conjure a wall of magic to block them. But Merlin "accidentally" bumped into her and knocked her off-balance. Fairy Godmother was distracted long enough for Jane to pull the front doors open and allow the four valiant rebels to get out of the bunker. Jane quickly threw the doors shut again and giggled to herself.
"Well. I suppose you're pretty proud of yourself, hmm?" A smug voice asked from behind her.
Jane jumped slightly and turned to see Merlin smiling at her mischievously. The old wizard chuckled and placed a light hand on her shoulder, beginning to lead her away from the door.
"Don't worry, dear. I understand. Now, let's go to the library and have a little talk, just you and me. Before Yen comes along all angry." Merlin smirked.
Jane couldn't help gulping. And the displeased look she was getting from Fairy Godmother wasn't helping.
Meanwhile, the four escapees were flying faster than they dared away from the bunker and racing to Kida's rescue.
"Which way is Main Street from here?" Jim called from the front as he maneuvered past the trees, catching glimpses of buildings up ahead.
"Just keep going until we reach the surface streets, then make a right!" Milo shouted back.
"Okay!" Jim responded, pushing the hovercraft practically to its limit.
"Alright, Ursula." Yen said smugly as he paced to and fro in front of his captive. Glinda and Blue stood tensely near the door as guards. Yen paused to smirk down at the fallen sorceress and crossed his arms. "Now... Tell me why your dear friends would so suddenly and casually toss you aside. You were in on their plans all along, right? You were an important asset to them? I mean, there are only two beings in this entire world who can weild the Trident. One of them has no way of getting to it, and the other one...is you. And we all know how much you want that Trident. So what happened?" Yen raised a stern eyebrow. "Did you betray them somehow?"
Ursula had been glowering up at him this whole time, putting her disgust and hatred for him on full display. But twice in the last few moments he'd seen some strange and obviously unpleasant emotion flash through her eyes- something like pain, sadness, regret, fear...possibly betrayal. And definitely an anger that wasn't directed at him.
Yen's expression became blank and he tilted his head back imperiously, ready to voice his next curiosity. "You know... I've distinctly noticed your daughter's absence from our little home since this all began... I figured that she must have been on your side, but seeing you here, I assume that can't possibly be the case. You would never allow your only child to fight for Kronos without you by her side...right?"
Now there was undoubtedly grief in Ursula's eyes. Her face twisted in rage and she growled, "Shut up, Yen."
"Was she taken from you?" Yen asked bluntly. He tried to put on a convincingly earnest expression. "We can help you get her back."
She scoffed. "Don't make hollow promises you'll never keep, you old coot. You don't want to save her. There is no saving her... Not after..." Ursula trailed off, her voice wavering. She'd given away too much already. But she found herself caring less and less.
"Tell us, Ursula. You don't have to protect those people any more. They threw you out like trash. You don't owe them a thing." Yen drawled.
Ursula shook her head.
"Ursula, if there's anything we can do to save your child, I need to know what happened to her first." Yen said firmly. He ignored the sad looks he was getting from Blue and Glinda. He was finally getting through to their prisoner and he wouldn't give up now.
Ursula blinked slowly a few times, seeming to come to terms with what he was saying to her. A sheen of tears filled her eyes and she took a deep breath to steady herself, feeling pathetic as she practically groveled at Yen's feet, hunched over on the stone floor before him like a useless sack. She kept her gaze glued to the stone between her and Yen as she quietly spoke.
"Eris changed her... My baby. She restored her powers... Turned her into a monster." Ursula's voice choked slightly at the end and she had to pause to clear her throat. "Now she's in danger."
"With powers like hers? She'll be fine." Yen said coldly. "And she'll be in no danger from us, Ursula. I promise you, your daughter will be returned to you safely."
"Well, you'll have to get to her soon." Ursula said lowly.
"And why is that?" Yen asked.
Ursula sighed. "Earlier, when you said only two people can weild the Trident... You were wrong " She glared up at him. "I didn't just get kicked off the team. I was replaced."
"By Vanessa." Yen realized.
"Yes." Ursula hissed.
"They're going to use her to get the Trident and attack Atlantica... Vanessa will have rule of the seas."
"Well, my dear sister and spiteful ex will be by her side, but yes." Ursula rolled her eyes.
Yen nodded. "Of course... I can't believe I didn't see this before." He looked toward Blue and Glinda with a blank expression.
"Yen." Her venemous voice caught his attention again. He looked down at her heated eyes and listened to her as she spat out, "You better make good on your promise to save Vanessa. Because the worst mistake you can ever make is to come between a mother and her child."
Yen simply nodded, keeping his expression unreadable. Then he walked away toward the door and left with Blue and Glinda. While Glinda magically sealed the door, Blue was immediately questioning Yen.
"So. What are we going to do about the girl, Yen?" Blue asked, already dreading the answer. Yen was swiftly walking away from her and she hovered quickly to keep up.
"There's nothing we can do." Yen replied dismissively. He could feel Blue's incredulous eyes on the back of his head and sighed, gruffly continuing, "You heard Ursula. If Eris has changed the girl, then she isn't even herself any more. And there isn't any way for her to be. She's an enemy now." He continued to walk briskly away, but Blue picked up her own speed and darted in front of him to cut him off. She floated there and placed a hand on his chest, forcing him to stop.
"There is one thing Ursula has ever said that I absolutely agree with." Blue stated solemnly, speaking in a tone so low only he could hear. "And that is that coming between a mother and her daughter, instead of doing all you could to bring them together- regardless of your reasoning- is the most wrong thing you could ever do. And whether you choose to see it or not, that was someone's mother that you just made a promise to."
Yen rolled his eyes. "I think you mean 'father'."
"Don't be insensitive." Blue snapped in response, surprising him slightly. She sighed tiredly, despair filling her eyes. "How can you be so callous, Yen? You used to care for children. Now you just treat them like pawns. How many young lives will you have sacrificed for the 'greater good' by the time this is all over?"
"As many as it takes, and none in vain." Yen replied gravely. At her heartbroken expression, he whispered, "Welcome back to reality, Blue. This is war we're talking about. Things can only get worse before they get better. And, whether you choose to see it or not, these children are an important part of things getting better."
Blue wanted to reply, wanted to scream, wanted to fight him on it. But she knew that, overall, Yen was right and she had to trust his judgment. So she held her tongue.
"From here on out, stopping Vanessa from reaching the Trident is our priority. At any cost." Yen finished before stepping around Blue and walking away from her. Without turning around, he called back to her, "Now, I have to go talk to Merlin, and you ought to be joining the other fairies for young Cinderella's training."
"Yen." Blue called to him, turning to face his retreating form. "What if it was Walt who needed saving?"
Without stopping or looking back at her, he coldly answered, "That isn't the case this time."
She watched him walk away a few more steps, biting her lip on an outraged scream, before casting aside her frustration and flying away to join the other fairies in a nearby training room.
Yen eventually found Merlin in the library, with Jane and Kashekim. Merlin looked up at him with a pleasant expression while Jane looked absolutely nervous at the sight of him and Kashekim looked about ready to keel over. Yen noticed an unhappy-looking Fairy Godmother standing nearby with her arms crossed. Sensing trouble, Yen frowned and haughtily crossed his arms as he came to stand before the little group.
He made his displeasure obvious as he stared down at the smug Merlin. "What is it?"
Merlin chuckled. "Well, I hope I didn't ruin your good mood, Yen. We were just having the most interesting discussion about Atlantean culture."
Yen glowered down at the comfortably seated wizard. "Merlin."
"Oh, yes. Well..." Merlin sipped from his teacup nonchalantly. "I suppose there is something important I need to tell you."
Jane groaned and hung her head in her hands.
Rourke smirked as he watched Ursula's blackened seashell pendant crumble to dust in his palm. He looked over at Clayton and Helga and said, "If we ever run into Eris again, remind me to thank her for letting us borrow this." He tilted his hand and allowed the black dust to spill down to the wet ground. Clayton chuckled quietly while Helga simply grinned. Rourke turned expectantly toward where Kida's crystallized feet were finally making contact with the pool of water before them. She strolled slowly toward them across the water's surface while the stone representations of the Ancient Kings fell out of the air and crashed into the pool with monstrous splashes. The waves tried to engulf Kida, but an invisible orb of energy was protecting her from getting wet. Rourke and his colleagues were not so lucky. Helga scoffed in annoyance as she raised an arm to shield her face from the water that sprinkled over them. Clayton looked distatsefully down at the water that rolled over his boots.
Rourke rolled his eyes and muttered, "Just open the container."
Clayton approached the metal container they'd brought to trap Kida and wrenched the door open. Rourke quickly sprinkled some of the black dust that used to be Ursula's necklace inside the container. Then he and Clayton cleared the way as Kida walked right into the container. Rourke slammed it shut and Clayton locked it. They got one last look at Kida's blank, ethereal face before the one window seemed to freeze over.
"Don't touch it." Rourke instructed Clayton. Then he looked up to see the shield around the city die away. He smirked at Helga and said, "Call the chopper."
Helga nodded and pulled out her phone, quickly dialing a number. While she spoke with reinforcements, Clayton and Rourke stood together to watch and admire their treasure.
"You know... Once we take this girl away, a whole civilization will die." Clayton said lightly.
Rourke grinned. "Well, knowing that... I'd double the price."
Helga suddenly cried out and both men turned to see her involuntarily fling her phone into the bottomless pit of water. She stumbled and reached up to stroke the tip of the arrow that had pierced her left shoulder.
"Take that, ya' shameless mercenary scum!" A shrill Scottish girl's voice rang through the air.
Jim looked over at Merida in shock. "A little much, don't you think?!"
"You're the one with the pistols!" Merida replied.
"And they're the ones with machine guns..." Tarzan called.
"Duck!" Milo screamed as Clayton and Rourke opened fire. The four of them leaned down low to their hovercrafts and evaded the gunshots as best they could.
"We're coming in too hot!" Tarzan yelled.
"I can't stop this thing!" Merida shrieked.
"Hold on!" Milo cried.
"Jesus, move out of the way!" Rourke shouted, tackling Clayton to the side. Helga leapt in the other direction, leaving an opening for the four vehicles to crash into the crumbling asphalt, kicking up a thick wave of dark dust. They all coughed and slowly rose to their feet, searching through the fog of dirt and concrete dust for the others.
"Damn it, where are they?" Rourke growled as he tried to catch sight of the four intruders. He called, "Clayton, Sinclair, respond!"
"I'm right here!" Clayton barked from a few feet away while Helga shouted from across the street.
"Milo!" Merida whispered as she crept toward the faint outline of the metal box they had Kida trapped in. "Milo, where are you,!" She hissed. "Jim!"
She heard violent splashing from behind her and Jim's voice saying, "Hang on, dad, I got you."
Tarzan was chuckling lightly and saying, "Jim, I'm fine."
They must have landed in the water. Jim carefully called out, "Guys, we're here!" Merida began to walk toward his voice, but then she heard coughing from her other side and then Milo's voice shouting, "I'm here! By the container!" Merida groaned and started to walk toward his voice. Then she heard a deafening click directly next to her left ear and froze, her gaze flickering toward that side to see Helga pointing a gun at her head. Helga narrowed her eyes at the bow and arrows slung onto Merida's back and murmured, "Oh, you're going to wish you shot to kill, little girl." Merida caught a glimpse of the arrow piercing through Helga's shoulder, which she'd broken off without pulling out in order to staunch her bleeding.
"Jim, I'm really fine. Come on, let's get to the others." Tarzan whispered, keeping a hand on Jim's shoulder and walking blindly through the dust cloud. He halted suddenly when a tall, bulky shape approached them through the fog. The first thing Tarzan got a clear look at was the menacing shaft of a shotgun.
"Jim, get behind me." Tarzan muttered, shoving Jim back and stepping in front of him.
"Dad..." Jim whispered, his fingers lingering on the handle of his own pistol.
"Don't make a move, alright? I'll handle this." Tarzan said through his teeth as Clayton came clearly into view a few feet ahead.
"Well, well, well..." Clayton said smugly as he raised the shotgun up. "What have we here?"
"Guys!" Milo was still calling frantically while he tried to pry the lock off of the container. "Guys, I'm here! Come help!"
"Seems like you're in your own, kid." A gruff voice said from behind him.
Milo whirled around to see Rourke aiming a pistol at him. Milo carefully raised his hands in surrender, keeping his own pistol hidden from Rourke's view. He didn't want to reach for it unless it was absolutely necessary. Besides, Milo had no idea how to use it.
Milo stared angrily at Rourke and tried to seem confident as he said, "You know, Yen Sid knows we're here, and he'll be here any second to stop all of you."
Rourke smirked. "You know, kid, I'm gonna go ahead and call your bluff on that. Because if Yen really knew where we were, he'd already be here. And besides, at this point..." He grinned as he watched Milo react to hearing far-away helicopter blades whirring. "I doubt any of your friends will get here before that chopper does. Stand down, son." He raised his gun higher and threateningly leveled it at Milo's head.
Milo shook his head. "I'm not letting you take her."
Rourke chuckled. "Oh, that's right... She was your girlfriend, wasn't she?"
"She still is." Milo replied stubbornly. "And you're not taking her any where."
Rourke sighed. "Listen, kid. There's nothing you can do. Now, step aside, and no one has to get hurt..." He glared at Milo and cocked the pistol, "...or worse."
Milo gulped.
Meanwhile, Merida was holding absolutely still while Helga circled her like a predator preparing to pounce. Helga smirked as she kept her pistol trained on Merida's head.
"What made you kids think you stood a chance against us?" Helga asked rhetorically. Merida just glared at her. Helga rolled her eyes and lowered her gun, stepping closer to Merida and reaching out to grab her arm. With a speed that Helga wasn't expecting, Merida whipped her bow off of her back and struck Helga in the face with it, hitting her cleanly in the nose. Helga shouted in pain and stumbled back, dropping her gun to grip her nose with both hands. Merida quickly pulled an arrow from her quiver and notched it in her bow, carefully aiming it at Helga. Merida walked toward her and kicked the gun away to the side.
"What makes you think we don't?" Merida demanded cockily.
Helga glared up at her, then angrily cried out and jumped forward, rushing Merida before she could fire her arrow. The two hit the ground and rolled around for a few moments, both shouting in pain as they wrestled. Merida let out a war cry as she repeatedly hit Helga in the head with her bow while Helga screamed.
Clayton frowned as the sounds of the struggle reached his ears.
"It's Merida..." Jim realized aloud, beginning to step out from behind his father.
Clayton growled and focused his aim on Jim. "You stay right there!"
Tarzan placed a protective hand on Jim's shoulder. Jim squinted to try to see through the thick cloud of dust, but he couldn't see anything at all.
Helga fiercely shrieked and shoved Merida away from her. Merida hit the ground hard and felt the wind get knocked out of her. She struggled to breathe, her chest burning as she gasped for breath. Helga crawled away to grab her gun. White spots danced through her vision as Merida forced herself to scramble after Helga, still gasping. Helga grabbed her gun just as Merida threw herself on top of her. Helga groaned and turned over, pointing the pistol at Merida's face. Merida blindly grabbed Helga's wrist and forced it to the ground with both hands. There was a nasty crack and Helga screamed briefly in pain, trying to shove Merida off with her other hand. She grabbed a fistful of Merida's hair and the Scottish girl shrieked as the two began to wrestle, both grappling for the gun. Merida managed to wrap her finger around the trigger and accidentally pulled it, firing a shot blindly into the dust.
"Merida!" Jim shouted.
Meanwhile, Rourke was so distracted by the gunshot that Milo had a long enough opportunity to run and duck behind the metal container. Rourke caught a glimpse of Milo disappearing behind it and grunted angrily, raising his weapon higher and approaching the container.
At this moment, Tarzan and Jim had both whipped out their pistols and aimed them at the unsuspecting Clayton. The three of them were having a standoff. Jim tried to hide his relief when he heard Merida continually shouting in Gaelic and scuffling with Helga. Merida was safe, for now.
Clayton laughed darkly. "Aren't you chaps in a bit over your heads? I can tell by the looks of this that neither one of you has ever handled a gun. In fact, I believe Helga once mentioned to me that you're against guns, Tarzan..." He hefted his shotgun higher and narrowed his eyes down the shaft at Tarzan's stern face. "Shall we test your resolve?"
Tarzan stood his ground when Clayton cocked the gun. But when Jim saw his finger begin to squeeze the trigger, he panicked and grabbed his dad by the arm, wrenching him out of the way. A shot rang out. Instead of finding its destination and piercing Tarzan's heart, the bullet grazed Tarzan's right arm. Tarzan gritted his teeth to hold in a pained shout while the muscles in his injured arm constricted and Tarzan involuntarily dropped his gun. The weapon skidded away while Tarzan fell to his knees. Clayton smirked and strolled toward his fallen prey, kicking the pistol away into the dust as he walked. Jim was trying to get Tarzan up, not noticing the approaching Clayton, who was reloading his gun.
Tarzan glanced back at Clayton, and his pained eyes widened when he saw the man raising his gun again. This time he was aiming at Jim.
"Jim, move!" Tarzan instinctively shoved Jim away with both hands. Jim stumbled back and fell into the pool of water nearby. Then Tarzan leapt toward Clayton and wrestled with him over the shotgun. Clayton roared in fury and struck Tarzan in the abdomen with the gun, sending Tarzan to his knees. Clayton approached the water with his gun raised once again while Tarzan sat hunched over and blinded by pain. The dark murkiness of the water, combined with all the dust still lingering in the air, made it impossible for Clayton to see Jim. But that didn't stop him from firing into the water at any slight bubble or wave or sign of movement.
Tarzan shouted in rage and attacked Clayton again, no longer feeling the pain in his stomach or his arm as he realized the danger his son was in. He jumped onto Clayton's back and wrapped his arms around his neck, wrestling him to the ground. Clayton struggled to try to hit Tarzan with the butt of his shotgun while Tarzan choked him. Tarzan used his feet to kick the gun out of Clayton's hands. The shotgun splashed into the water and disappeared.
Tarzan jumped off of the temporarily incapacitated, sputtering Clayton and called out to Jim as loudly as he could. But there was no answer. The water was completely still. Tarzan began to wade into the water to search for Jim, but there was an outraged, animalistic shout from behind him, and Clayton's strong hands gripped him by the shoulders and launched him backwards. Tarzan slid across the asphalt with a groan, deftly stopping himself with his hands and knees, ending up crouching and facing the infuriated Clayton, who was now pulling out a bowie knife.
Tarzan rolled away when Clayton leapt toward him, disappearing into the dust that was just starting to settle. Of course, all the sudden movement along the ground kicked up more dust, giving Tarzan a brief cover. But Clayton was right behind him, and wildly swinging his knife. Tarzan made a blind run for it until he nearly collided with a stone wall. He looked up at the bell tower, still in perfect condition, and felt along the wall until he found an opening to get into the auditorium. Clayton was still angrily yelling and trying to slash Tarzan with the knife as he chased him through the auditorium and backstage. Tarzan kept moving, leading Clayton up to the bell tower.
Meanwhile, Milo had finally pulled out his gun, but couldn't give himself the time to ready it for use because he was too busy spasticly running around to avoid Rourke's attacks. Helga, who'd just managed to lose Merida, finally grabbed Milo by the arm and spun him around, pinning the arm behind his back and forcing him to face Rourke. Rourke smirked and punched Milo in the stomach, prompting Helga to release him and let him fall to the ground. Helga and Rourke left him lying there, since the helicopter had arrived and was now landing by the container. The blades spun deafeningly and picked up a lot of dust and bits of concrete and asphalt, creating a tornado of muck.
Helga squinted and ducked her head as she followed Rourke to the helicopter, shouting over the noise, "There's no way that thing will be able to carry the container!"
"You got a better idea?" Rourke demanded gruffly.
"Well, no-"
"Then hitch her!" Rourke picked up a thick chain from inside the chopper and handed one hooked end if it to Helga.
"What about Clayton?" She asked.
"Forget him!" Rourke replied simply, climbing into the helicopter. Helga shrugged and went to secure the chain around the container.
Merida ran toward Milo and kneeled next to him, trying to help him stand up. They both watched hopelessly as Helga hopped into the helicopter and the thing started to take off, struggling to carry Kida away with it.
"We have to stop them!" Milo cried.
Merida spotted the least damaged hovercraft sitting nearby. "Maybe that thing still works... But how would we break the chain?"
"Shoot it." Jim said simply from nearby. Milo and Merida both turned in relief to see him walking toward them, soaking wet and holding out his pistol in one hand. He kept his other arm at his side.
Merida grinned. "Jim! You're okay!"
"So are you." He smirked.
Milo hesitantly took his gun. He looked at it for a moment, then held it back out to Jim. "You should probably do the shooting. We both know I'm hopeless."
"No... My arm's broken." Jim looked down at his other arm that hung limply at the side he had turned from them. "I'm useless right now."
"Well, then... The only person who can aim is Merida." Milo turned and handed the gun to her. "I'll steer the hovercraft. You shoot."
Merida nodded nervously. "Right..."
Milo ran toward the hovercraft and started trying to activate it. Jim walked closer to Merida and gave her a worried look.
"Just... Be careful. Alright?" He said quietly.
Merida grinned and gave his free hand a quick squeeze. "Always."
Jim couldn't help smirking as he watched her run away to hop onto the hovercraft with Milo. He watched them fly away to catch the chopper, then frowned and looked around. He muttered to himself, "Where the hell did dad go?"
Tarzan was busy running through the bell tower with Clayton right on his heels. They'd found themselves in Quasi's old room, and Tarzan was looking for an escape. His eyes immediately rested on the many ropes to the bells in this old tower, and an idea dawned on him.
There was no way that Clayton could climb like he could.
Narrowly escaping another swipe from Clayton's blade, Tarzan leapt up and started to scurry up a rope, then swung clumsily to another. Clayton growled angrily and started to climb after him, pinching his knife blade between his teeth to steady himself. They both ignored the ringing of the various bells as they climbed and swung from rope to rope.
Jim heard the obnoxious ringing from outside and squinted up at the bell tower. "What the...?"
Tarzan gritted his teeth, unable to keep ignoring his heavily bleeding arm. He let the injured arm hang at his side and continued to clumsily climb and swing around one-handed, relying mostly on his strong legs. This gave Clayton an advantage and he was quickly gaining on Tarzan. As Tarzan moved, he tossed the ropes he jumped from back toward Clayton, continually tangling him up and eventually trapping him. Clayton grunted and hastily used his knife to chop the ropes and try to free himself. Tarzan watched uneasily as a rope that had wound around Clayton's neck slowly tightened while Clayton obliviously cut the other ropes.
"Clayton, don't-!"
Tarzan's warning shout was cut off when Clayton cut the last rope, unintentionally sending himself plummeting to his death. Clayton fell down the tower, screaming all the way, trailed by the long rope that held his neck. Then, the rope suddenly went taut, and Clayton's scream was silenced. Tarzan watched in shock as Clayton's body dangled there, far below him, while the rope he'd pulled sounded the largest, deepest bell in the tower. Tarzan regretfully ducked his head as Clayton's body slowly swung to a stop, with the bell only a few rings behind it. Then Tarzan slowly began to climb down and back into Quasi's little sanctuary, hearing a helicopter outside. He went out onto the terrace and watched as Milo and Merida hovered around on the one surviving Atlantean vehicle, narrowly avoiding gunshots from Helga and Clayton while Merida carefully shot at the chain holding Kida's metal prison. But Milo was steering so sporadically that Merida couldn't properly take aim. Then, Tarzan looked down into the hailstorm of asphalt bits below the fight and saw Jim standing there and watching the whole thing.
.
"Jim..." Tarzan whispered, then immediately began to run down the bell tower. Once back outside, he jogged up to Jim, continually calling his name. Jim turned to him with a grin, then quietly groaned when Tarzan rushed him for a hug.
"Ow..." Jim muttered.
Tarzan pulled back worriedly and looked Jim over, finally noticing the broken arm. "Oh, Jim..."
Jim shook his head. "Nah, it's nothing... Just a little fracture. Nothing some magic can't cure." Jim smirked, trying to cover up the pain he felt. He had gone pale.
Tarzan sighed. "That still doesn't make me feel like father of the year... But at least you're alive."
Jim frowned. "You thought I was dead?"
"Well, yeah... When Clayton was firing into the water, and then you didn't come up for awhile... It really freaked me out."
"I was taking cover behind one of those stones. But I guess when Clayton was shooting into the water, he hit something, because the stone was suddenly moved and it crushed my arm. I was pinned for a couple minutes, but I eventually got out... Where is Clayton, any way?"
Tarzan's eyes filled with some unrecognizable emotion and he whispered. "Dead."
Jim couldn't come up with a reply. But he and Tarzan were both quickly distracted by a sound of malfunctioning machinery above them. They both looked up to see Milo and Merida leaping from the smoking hovercraft and clinging to the chain holding the container. The hovercraft sputtered and spun out of control, diving toward Tarzan and Jim. Tarzan tackled Jim out of the way just before the craft crashed into the ground, kicking up a lot more dust. The two coughed as they lay sprawled out on the ground nearby, staring up at the struggle on the chopper.
"Okay... So we might be in a bit over our heads." Jim mumbled.
Above them, Merida was straddling the container and carefully aiming the pistol directly at the chain. "Just a moment..." She screamed when a bullet struck the metal right beside her, ricocheting off and disappearing after breaking her concentration.
"I'll go distract them! You break that chain!" Milo called, already climbing up the chain to get to the helicopter.
"But, Milo-!"
"Just do it!"
She groaned and took aim, ducking when more gunshots cane her way and nearly dropping her own gun. "Shit!"
"He's coming up!" Helga shouted to Rourke, aiming her pistol at the approaching Milo. "I'll get him..."
"Well, why wait here? You should go and greet him personally!" Rourke said, suddenly shoving her out of the chopper. She cried out shortly as she disappeared under the helicopter. Rourke leaned out to look for her, but she suddenly swung herself up from underneath the helicopter, kicking him in the face. Rourke stumbled dangerously back, but quickly caught himself and managed to dodge Helga's next attack.
"You said we were partners!" Helga growled. She threw up her foot for another kick, but Rourke caught her by the ankle and twisted her around.
"Yeah, it's nothing personal..." Rourke said casually. "I just don't want to share my money with you." With that, he shoved her out of the helicopter again. And this time, he was successful.
"Rourke! " She angrily screamed as she fell. She hit the chain on her way down, nearly knocking Milo off and giving Merida quite a shake.
Rourke rolled his eyes and picked up a gun from nearby. "What does it take to kill a couple of kids, huh?" He leaned out to aim at Milo, but he'd disappeared from the chain. Figuring that Milo had fallen off after all, Rourke decided to aim at Merida instead. But before he could pull the trigger, Milo struck him from behind, nearly knocking him out of the chopper. Rourke hung from the side of the helicopter with one arm, using the other to aim his gun at Milo. Milo dodged the shot and the bullet hit the pilot instead, instantly killing him. The helicopter began to veer precariously, now flying out of control. Merida cried out as the helicopter took a dangerous turn, knocking her off-balance. For a brief and terrifying moment, Merida was in freefall. Then, she came back to her senses and thrust out her hands to grab hold of the side of the container, desperately clinging to it while her gun fell far out of her reach. She heard Jim calling her name, but she didn't dare to look down.
"You know... I'm a very patient man. It usually takes a lot of piss me off. But, congratulations..." Rourke grinned as he pulled himself back into the chopper, aiming at Milo again. "You've succeeded."
Milo ducked down as another bullet came his way and ran full-force toward Rourke, momentarily winding him and sending them both flying out of the teetering helicopter. Milo pushed himself off of Rourke, hitting the top of the container hard. Rourke clung to the chain and quickly slid down to the container. Milo hopped off the top of it and clung to the door, his face a few inches from the crystallized glass that separated him from Kida. He turned and spotted some red curls flailing around on the other side of container. Merida was still there.
Suddenly, Rourke was standing above them, thoughtfully tapping his chin.
"Well, isn't this perfect? Who should I kill first? Let's see... You! " He swung the butt of his gun down toward Milo in an attempt to knock him off the container. But Milo threw himself to the side, still hanging onto the box while the gun handle shattered the glass window he'd just been in front of. While blue light flooded from the new opening, Rourke pulled back his gun and shook his head. "Well, since you won't let things be fun, I'll just shoot you! But I'd prefer to do it face-to-face..." Rourke reached down an arm to try to grab Milo.
In that instant, Milo noticed that the shattered glass was now sparkling blue and radiating energy. When Rourke's arm was close enough, Milo quickly plucked out a loose shard and sliced Rourke's forearm with it. Rourke shouted and reared back, dropping his gun and standing up to grip his injured arm. It was obvious that there was nothing he could do for it, however. From the cut, blue crystal began to spread over Rourke's skin, seemingly turning him to rock. Rourke let out a wild cry of agony, but when the crystal crawled over his face, his eyes reddened and his shouts became inhuman. Merida and Milo both watched in horror as Rourke's entire body froze over, his expression stuck in agony.
"Oh, thank heaven..." Milo sighed, shaking his head and leaning into the container.
"Milo... What are we gonna-?"
Merida's question was cut off when a crystal-blue fist struck the metal right beside her head, causing her to scream. Rourke had sprung back to life and was back on the attack, striking at both of them while they screamed with nowhere to run. His crystal exterior was slowly breaking and red light leaked out of the cracks.
Helga, who was laying broken on the ground below, used the last of her strength to turn her pistol up toward the chopper.
"Nothing...personal." She gasped, firing a shot at the engine.
The helicopter groaned and sputtered, spinning faster and faster out of control while the heavy container continued to drag it down. The machine gave one last cough of defeat before the rotors finally gave up and they were all crashing down to the ground. Rourke was shaken off of the container and sailed through the air, giving out another unrecognizable scream before getting caught in the damaged, smoking rotors. The helicopter burst into flames and barreled into the concrete, which quickly gave way and let the structure sink into the dark pool of water. The chain holding the container got caught in some rocks and eventually snapped, leaving Milo and Merida safe from being dragged down with the sinking helicopter. They both clung stiffly to the sides of the container even after it had slid to a stop. Everything was silent as the helicopter was consumed by the water and the dust finally began to settle.
"Guys!" Jim called as he and Tarzan jogged toward them. "Guys, are you okay?"
Merida coughed and shakily got up on her feet. "Yeah... I think so..."
"We're fine..." Milo said, dusting himself off. "Now let's get this thing open."
The four of them collectively lifted the container to stand upright. Then, Merida found a metal pike nearby and used it to break off the lock on the container. Milo helped her to pry the door open, and then the four of them leapt back as the other sides of the container burst off and floated away, freeing Kida completely. Kida moved inemotively back toward the water, walking across it until she reached the center of the pool. The stone totems once again lit up, brought back to life by her presence, and rose from the water and into the air. Kida rose with them, spiraling in the opposite direction while the stones once again orbited around her. Each gained speed, and that unearthly whirring once again resounded. The earth shook slightly, buzzing with the energy of the Heart. The blue glow shone more and more vibrantly, picking up in intensity the same way that Kida and stones increased their speed and the humming sound grew deafeningly louder.
The four of them had to shield their eyes and ears, huddling together for protection as the light seemed to burst and spread over the whole city, as if a star had just exploded over their heads. There was a rush of cool air, the noises reached their crescendo, and then all was silent.
Milo slowly peered up into the sky to see Kida- the real Kida- drifting slowly down toward them, unconscious. Milo hurried to catch her as her feet touched the ground, and whatever spell the crystal had over her was finally released and she slumped in Milo's arms. Milo gazed down at her in shock, barely believing that it was really her; that she was safely in his arms, unscathed.
"Kida?" He whispered.
Her eyes slowly fluttered open, and she peered up at him. "Milo?"
He smiled at her. Kida grinned back, then held up a hand that she'd had closed into a fist. In her palm sat what looked to be a child's bracelet. Kida bit her lip on a surprised laugh and threw her arms around his neck, tightly entrapping him in a hug. He pushed his face into her shoulder as he embraced her. The other three stood nearby and happily watched, still letting all the events of the last half-hour wash over them. It was all so unreal... But there was no denying what they'd been through, what they'd seen. But at least the outcome had been great.
Merida grinned and placed a hand on Jim's shoulder. He quietly groaned. Merida frowned, then gasped at the sight of his arm.
"Jim! We need to get you back now! " Merida cried, bringing everyone back to reality.
"But how can we get back fast enough? The hovercrafts are busted..." Milo rubbed at the back of his neck. Kida was staring in awe at the fallen transportation devices, which she probably hadn't seen the likes of in years.
"We'll just have to start walking and hope that Merlin or someone picks us up along the way..." Tarzan muttered.
"That won't be necessary." An angry voice called from nearby.
The group turned to see Yen Sid stalking toward them with an unabashedly smug Merlin and a slightly amused Blue Fairy on his tail.
"Oh, no... We're too late..." Merlin commented sarcastically, casting a mock-sad look around at the disaster. Blue did her best to hold in a giggle.
Yen ignored both of them, frowning up at the Heart of Atlantis, which was now hovering independently in the sky and humming in contentment. The Ancient Kings' totems were drifting peacefully around it.
Yen leveled a heavy glare on the group. "And just what exactly were you thinking, endangering yourselves like that? You could have been killed!"
"And you could have been left without a shield." Kida replied coolly, facing him completely unafraid.
Yen was obviously caught off guard by this response. "What?"
She rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips, looking up at the old wizard in slight amusement. "I know everything, Yen. The Heart of Atlantis hears, feels, and knows all. And while I understand your reasoning for leaving me to it, I'm still very disappointed in you."
Yen was definitely lost for words. "I... I am sorry, Princess..." He bowed his head respectfully.
"Princess?" Milo whispered in disbelief.
Kida ignored this and moved on. "Especially since I didn't even need to be bonded to the crystal to give you what you needed."
Yen's eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me?"
Kida smirked. "The Heart of Atlantis only needs a host initially to strengthen itself. But now..." She looked meaningfully up at the floating crystal. "In a time of crisis, it will be strong enough to put a shield up on its own." She smiled and turned back to Yen. "All it needs to ensure our safety is your protection."
Yen stared at her for a moment, then up at the crystal. Finally, he cleared his throat and muttered, "Merlin, help me with a protection charm. Quickly."
Merlin smirked as he followed Yen toward the water. Once the others were out of earshot, Merlin whispered to Yen, "Feeling a bit silly now, aren't we?"
"Okay, but... You're a princess? " Merida asked Kida.
Kida chuckled. "Used to be..."
"That's why the Heart of Atlantis needed her, children. In times of crisis, the crystal chooses a host of royal blood to protect itself." Blue explained with a smile. Then, she turned to Kida and carefully asked, "Did you see your mother?"
Kida's expression became somber, but there was a slight twinkle in her blue eyes."Yes."
Blue nodded. "And... Is she happy?"
Kida's expression lit up. "Very." She grinned down at the tiny bracelet in her hand. Milo wrapped his arms around her and she leaned back into him.
"Uh... Blue?" Merida asked awkwardly after a moment, pointing toward Jim and Tarzan, who both looked ready to pass out. "We've got one guy with a broken arm and another guy bleeding out here."
"Oh!" Blue exclaimed, lifting her wand. It immediately began to glow. "Let's get home, then!"
Maleficent sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes in irritation after watching Blue poof the mortals away from Main Street in the magic mirror. She narrowed her eyes at the floating mess of the helicopter, which had been stirred out of the depths during Kida's split from the Heart. She sank tiredly back into her seat.
"What utter failures..." She muttered under her breath, pressing her fingertips to her forehead. Diablo, her crow, cried unhappily and she looked up at him. She gingerly held out a green hand and he jumped up to perch on it, letting her lift him up to her shoulder while she softly cooed.
"At least the shield is down, for now..." Jafar said thoughfully, watching Yen and Merlin at work in the mirror. Iago sat atop the staff that Jafar now kept possessively at his side at all times. "And, even with any reinforced magic from these two, the shield will never be as strong as it was when the girl was bonded to the crystal. It should be easy enough for Hades and the Titans to get through."
"Any word from Olympus?" Maleficent asked carelessly as she stroked Diablo's inky black skull. The bird croaked happily and she smirked.
"They still have it locked down. As long as Zeus doesn't get free, everything's fine. Our next step is to take control of the seas." Jafar replied.
"Lovely." Maleficent said flatly.
Jafar smiled now. "Want to hear another bit of good news?"
"Hmm?" She hummed, obviously disinterested and still caressing her pet bird.
"Rourke and Clayton did prove themselves a bit useful before dying. They gave us the location of Merlin's elusive bunker."
She scoffed. "Well, that's hardly useful now, since it's been relocated."
Jafar grinned. "But we managed to lock onto the magical signature before it was moved."
Her eyebrows shot up. "Oh."
Jafar chuckled smugly. "Which means that no matter where they move, we can track them. We have the bunker's exact whereabouts right now."
Maleficent allowed a small smile to grace her red lips. "Well. How perfect."
"When shall we attack?" He asked eagerly.
"We'll wait." She replied lightly. "We need the perfect moment to strike. We need to obliterate all of their resources and leave them utterly hopeless before we kill them all."
Jafar strolled over to stand beside her chair and grin down at her, his dark eyes gleaming yellow for a split-second. "I do love the way you think."
She smirked and rose from her seat. Diablo croaked and hopped over to perch atop her staff as she began to leave the lair.
"If you'll excuse me, dear..." She remarked to Jafar without turning back to him. "I have some renovations to oversee."
Yen and Merlin marched unhappily into Yen's study, where Blue, Fairy Godmother, Magi, Glinda, Walt and the Three Good Fairies were all waiting for them.
"Well?" Glinda chirped nervously from where she stood by the fireplace.
"Yes, yes, Kida's safe and reunited with everyone and the Heart is protected." Yen grouched. "But now we have another problem."
"What is it?" Magi frowned.
"Maleficent has built herself a dark fortress in the mountains that Elsa once inhabited." Merlin stated tersely. "She's making herself quite comfortable, which means they must have some advantage over us that we don't know about."
"Or that they think we don't know about. Remember, they have no way of knowing what Ursula told us about Vanessa." Yen cut in.
"Well, there could also be something else, couldn't there?" Merlin snapped. "We are obviously not as informed as we'd like to be!"
"Excuse me..." A new voice called quietly from the door. The two wizards turned to see Esmeralda sheepishly sneaking into the room and shutting the door after herself.
Yen rolled his eyes. "We should really start remembering to seal that door..."
"Oh, dear, you shouldn't be in here..." Flora started.
"I'm sorry for intruding. But this is important." Esmeralda said a bit more confidently, stepping further into the room.
"Well, then... You have all our attention, dear." Blue said.
"Yes, what is it, child?" Merlin asked.
Esmeralda cleared her throat. "Well... This might sound crazy, but... I might have the perfect thing for fighting the...Chernabog?"
Yen sighed. "I doubt it."
"Let her speak." Fairy Godmother scolded him.
"And what is that, Esmeralda?" Walt asked with a slight frown.
Esmeralda looked briefly down at her feet, obviously nervous. "Um..." She winced. She didn't know how to say this. "Well... There's this secret that I've been keeping for awhile, but... I think it can help us now. You see... I have an angel watching over me." She waited to see how they would react.
They all just stared blankly at her.
"Um... And what exactly does that entail, sweetheart?" Fauna trilled.
Esmeralda sighed. "Well, I'm actually surprised I haven't seen it yet, because it usually comes when people are in danger. I mean, when someone's really hurt... Usually she comes and helps."
"When did you see her? What did she look like?" Merriweather asked doubtfully.
Esmeralda began to explain. "I've only seen her twice. The first time was at a party. Hercules got really hurt in a fight with Gaston, and I saw this strange golden glow, shaped like a girl, in the backyard. Then, Hercules was fine, like nothing happened. I figured I imagined the whole thing and moved on. But then... On Halloween, I got hit by this car. And I saw her again, and she healed me..."
The Blue Fairy abruptly began to laugh, making everyone turn to her in shock or confusion. Esmeralda looked slightly hurt, as though she'd assumed that Blue just didn't believe her. But Blue shook her head and said, "Oh, honey, that wasn't an angel. That was your friend, Rapunzel!"
Esmeralda's eyes widened. "What? "
Merlin chuckled. "The girl has magical powers of healing. All she has to do is sing a special song, and she can heal others. Her hair glows gold like the sun as a side effect."
Yen nodded. "Even without her hair- which we initially believed to be the source of her power- her abilities are still unbelievably strong."
"Well... Where is she now?" Esmeralda asked hopefully.
An unsettling silence washed through the room. A few of the adults regretfully ducked their heads or looked away toward the fire.
Yen Sid finally sighed, looking as sad as anyone had ever seen.
"She was captured." He told Esmeralda.
Her emerald eyes filled with sadness and her face fell. "What?"
Peter struggled violently to escape the hold Facilier had on him. He tried to fly away, to rip the chain that was looped around his ankle out of Facilier's firm grip. But Facilier held on tight, dragging the levitating boy along like a spastic balloon. He walked fearlessly through the near-dead forest that guarded Adam's castle, while Peter dodged the low-hanging tree limbs along the way.
"Quit fighting, boy!" Facilier yelled when Peter tried to fly away again. He rolled his eyes up at the tall, dark gates to the castle. "We're here."
Peter looked up at the castle with wide eyes, dragging behind as Facilier opened the gate and strolled through the dark, empty courtyard and up the stone steps to the giant double doors. Peter hovered behind him, curious despite himself and all his fear. He watched expectantly as Facilier knocked briskly on the wooden doors and sighed impatiently after a few seconds of not being answered. After a moment, a plump older woman opened the door, looking very flustered. She looked nervously at Facilier for a moment, then peered up at Peter. Something like sadness filled her eyes.
"Another one?" She asked Facilier quietly.
Facilier nodded, looking blankly up at the flying boy. "We don't know what we wanna do with him just yet..." His purple eyes flickered back to the woman. "But I'm sure you guys have room for him while we figure that out."
The woman unhappily nodded and stepped back, pulling the door open all the way for them. "Come in."
Facilier smirked as he led Peter into the dimly-lit foyer. "Thanks, Mrs. Potts."
She shut the door after them and began to walk up the stairs ahead. "I'll go let Adam know you're here... He'll want to speak to you."
Facilier nodded curtly in response as she trudged up the steps, seeming exhausted. Peter looked around the dusty foyer to distract himself, figuring that he should just resign himself to the situation and try to escape later. But then a high-pitched wail of pain creeped up to his ears from a hall nearby. Peter turned toward the hall while Facilier didn't seem to notice the noise. Peter couldn't help thinking that he recognized that voice...
After a few moments, there was another scream, this one much louder. It sounded like it was coming from below, so whoever it was must have been in the basement. And the door to the basement must have been down that hall.
When a third scream rang out, Peter knew he had to help whoever was down there. But first he had to get away from Facilier, and move fast before Adam got down here. But how? Trying to fly away hadn't worked. Facilier had been prepared for everything Peter threw at him...
So he just had to do something Facilier wasn't expecting and catch him by surprise.
Peter smirked, forcing himself to fully relax and suddenly dropping out of the air and landing on top of Facilier, sending them both crashing to the tile floor. Facilier shouted and groaned while Peter pretended to freak out, forcing Facilier to wrestle with him.
"I'm sorry! This thing- sometimes it just- stops working! Sorry!" Peter cried as he flailed around, continuing to "accidentally" hit Facilier in the face while Facilier grunted and kept trying to shove him away.
"Damn it, hold still!" Facilier growled, too distracted to notice the chain slipping out of his grip. "Get off me!"
"Okay!" Peter replied cheerily, flying up into the air and taking the chain with him.
"Hey! Hold on!" Facilier shouted, jumping up to his feet and trying to catch the chain. Peter plucked up the chain and whipped the end of it toward Facilier, catching him in the eye. Facilier cried out and crumbled momentarily, then shouted ragefully and pointed at Peter, yelling, "Get him!"
Peter frowned in confusion, then leapt into action when Facilier's shadow sprang to life and flew toward him. Peter swooped through the air to avoid the shadow, finally managing to kick off the chain before the shadow could grab ahold of it. Facilier ran along beneath him and swung up at Peter with his staff, throwing Peter off-course.
Peter spotted a small dresser nearby and dove toward it, momentarily perching on top of it. The shadow and Facilier were both racing toward him. Peter smirked when the shadow started to dive at him, then kicked the top drawer of the dresser open and ducked underneath it. The shadow couldn't stop in time before clattering into the open drawer. Peter slammed it shut and flew away, turning over in the air to see the dresser shaking around violently. The shadow couldn't get out.
Peter laughed. "I can't believe that worked!" He sailed through the air and disappeared down the hall while Facilier ran to the dresser to free his shadow.
Adam was jogging down the stairs and looking around at the damage. "What the hell happened?!"
Facilier growled as he wrenched the old drawer open. His shadows shrieked as it slithered out and along the wall, following Peter's trail. "The flying brat got away! He's going to the basement!"
A low rumble resounded from within Adam's chest and his eyes glowed red.
Peter crashed through the first door he saw- which turned out to be the only one in the hallway- and zipped down the stairs, pausing momentarily to hover at the foot of the steps and look for the prisoner. There was a girl with short, choppy brown hair and wide green eyes turning to face him from where she was tied to a wooden beam. She was covered in filth... And blood.
"Don't worry, I'm getting you out of here!" Peter said, dropping down to his feet and running toward her. But Facilier's shadow had caught up to him and now launched itself at Peter, completely enveloping him like a net. But Peter didn't give up. He propelled himself upward and turned over and over in the air, purposefully crashing into things to try to shake the shadow off. Rapunzel watched in shock and winced slightly as Peter continually struggled and tried to wrangle the shadow off of him, all the while making a huge mess of the cellar. But Peter seemed close to winning the battle; He was slowly peeling the shadow away from him.
Gothel stepped out of the darkness, where she'd been hiding to watch the spectacle, and laughed. "What a show! Well, this is a very pleasant surprise..."
A beastly roar tore its way down the stairs and thundering footsteps could be heard moving toward them. Rapunzel whimpered and cowered in terror while Gothel grinned and Peter remained distracted by his fight with the shadow.
"Oh, and the master of the house seems very displeased with you!" Gothel chided Peter playfully.
Peter grunted as he pushed himself off of a wall and accidentally yanked on the chain hanging from the center of the ceiling. The cellar was flooded with light, and the shadow shrieked and reared away from Peter, racing away and back up the stairs, nearly running into the Beast.
Gothel squinted and looked away from the blinding light bulb, temporarily distracted. Peter could now see her clearly, and took special notice of her papery skin. Peter reached up and snapped the rusty old chain, now weilding the light bulb like a weapon. He swung it toward Gothel and she involuntarily cried out and stepped back from him.
"Stop it, you idiot!" She snarled. "Keep that away from me!"
Peter smirked and pulled the bulb back, cracking it against the wall behind him, breaking the glass open and revealing the wires within. He launched it back at Gothel, and the burning fuse struck her in the chest. Adam finally reached the basement just in time to see Gothel's chest burst into flame. She screamed and failed around wildly, stumbling and attempting to bat away the flames that ate away at her skin, which burned and peeled back to reveal the hollow cavity underneath. Rapunzel screamed at the sight of it, then froze in fear when Adam unleashed another roar and bounded toward Peter, jumping up to try to catch him out of the air. Peter slipped out of his grasp just in time, plucking up a piece of broken glass and quickly using it to cut Rapunzel loose.
Feeling her restraints slip away, Rapunzel slowly pulled her numb arms forward and looked down at her pale hands in awe.
"Quick! Untie your legs and find us a way out of here!" Peter called to her as he continued to fly around to avoid the enraged Adam.
"Oh!" Rapunzel exclaimed quietly, beginning to tear at the ropes binding her legs.
"Oh no, you don't!" Gothel croaked, leaping toward Rapunzel and landing at her feet. Rapunzel screamed as she fought with Gothel, trying not to watch how her paper skin was starting to collapse in on her like damaged paper mache. Gothel continued to wrestle with her and growled, "I won't let you get away this time!"
Peter noticed Rapunzel's predicament and, while keeping Adam distracted, started to look around for a quick exit. He needed to get Adam off his back for a minute... He noticed a tall cabinet leaning on a wall nearby and flew to it. When Adam got close enough, Peter shoved the cabinet down on top of him. Adam snarled and thrashed around under the thing when he realized it had him pinned. Peter leaned on the wall to steady himself, accidentally pulling down a dusty curtain that had been hidden behind the cabinet. Peter looked up and grinned at what the curtain had been shielding: A large window.
Faint streaks of red light leaked in through the window and singed Gothel's back. She screeched and leapt away from Rapunzel, scrambling into the shadows to protect herself. Rapunzel tore her eyes away from Gothel's smoking skin and quickly undid the ropes, then hopped unsteadily up to her feet and limped toward Peter, who was trying to wrench the creaking window open.
"Here..." Rapunzel said, picking up a brick and handing it to him.
Peter nodded and took the brick. "Step back..." She did as he told her while he drifted back a few paces and prepared to launch the brick at the glass. Adam roared and began to tear his way out from under the cabinet to stop them.
"No!" Gothel screamed, crawling out of the shadows like a wounded animal and reaching for Rapunzel's leg.
Peter threw the brick and the window shattered, allowing red light to fill the room. Adam let out an infuriated snarl while Gothel shrieked like a banshee and burned to a crisp, her ashes littering the stone floor and her final cry echoing in the cellar.
"Let's go!" Peter cried, grabbing Rapunzel by the arm and leading her out.
"Wait! Belle's here, too!"
Peter glanced down at the nearly free Adam and said, "There's no time..."
Adam finally broke his way through the cabinet and leapt toward them. His claws barely missed Rapunzel's ankle as Peter carried her out the window and up into the air. Rapunzel cried out in surprise as she looked down at the earth receding below her. She stared up at Peter.
"What are you doing?!" She called over the howling wind.
"They've got a barrier- a forest of thorn vines. There's only one way to get past it..." He replied with a firm look on his face as he rose higher and higher into the air and sailed over the trees.
"We're going to fly over?!" She yelled.
Peter couldn't help smirking. "I figured that would be obvious..." Although he had it in him to joke, Peter couldn't push aside his own uneasiness until the Beast's roaring faded away completely behind them. Also, Peter hadn't flown this high in awhile, and he was already exhausted from the days events. It was quite a hike to the edge of the thorn forest, and Peter knew that if he could make it that far, that would be it. They'd have to go the rest of the way to safety- wherever that was- on foot.
Glinda burst through the doors of Yen's study with Fairy Godmother following her. The others were gathered in the study and preparing to see Hercules off on his journey to Olympus. They all stared at the Good Witch expectantly and she grinned beatificly around at them.
"Peter and Rapunzel have escaped!" She cheered. Fairy Godmother smiled behind her.
Yen turned to her with raised brows. "What?"
"The boy- They took him to the Beast's castle and he got free and saved Rapunzel! They've just flown over the thorns and are now hiking through the forest to find shelter!" Glinda explained ecstatically, bouncing slightly where she stood.
"Well, we have to go find them!" Blue cried.
"Yes, now is the perfect time!" Merriweather agreed. "The villains will be too distracted by Hercules to notice us swooping in and getting those kids before they can."
"No, they'll be able to pick up on our magical signature for sure." Merlin cut in, shaking his head. "We'll have to send a mortal search party."
"Yes. And we'll keep a close eye on them. If we sense trouble, one of us can go and transport everyone out." Yen nodded.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Flora demanded, rising excitedly from her seat. "Let's get a group together immediately!"
"So... You fly." Rapunzel commented casually as she and Peter trekked through the gloomy forest. She needed to start a conversation to distract herself from the dead, blackened trees and the unnatural red light that illuminated the dark woods. She stepped carefully around a shrinking pool of black goo. "I never would have guessed that about you."
Peter chuckled and replied, "Well, it's kind of a new thing. Just started happening this year, actually."
"Wow. It's amazing how much a person can change in a year..." Rapunzel responded lightly.
Peter glanced back at her, his eyes flickering over her bloodied clothes. "What did those assholes want with you, any way?"
Rapunzel looked down at her feet, obviously uncomfortable. Peter didn't seem to notice as he continued, "I mean, there's an awful lot of blood on your clothes, and those screams were definitely yours, right? But you don't have a scratch on you." He raised a questioning eyebrow.
Rapunzel sighed. "They were harvesting my tears."
Peter stared at her, trying to hide his horror. "What? Why?"
"I have healing powers. Before, the power was stored in my hair. Until I cut it off."
"I thought something about you looked different." Peter smirked.
Rapunzel rolled her eyes to hide her amusement. "Now I guess the power stems from my tears. So they..." She shrugged and looked away. "They made me cry."
Peter's expression softened and he quietly asked, "They tortured you?"
She nodded, still avoiding his gaze.
Peter sighed and shook his head, focusing on the trail ahead. "Well, don't worry. We'll make them pay."
They continued to walk in silence. Peter's mind raced with the revelation of Rapunzel's powers. He'd always figured that there were others like him, but he never thought he'd get to meet any of them. And he definitely never expected someone he knew to have secret powers.
Peter didn't really count Jack Frost in this tiny population because it was obvious that Jack wasn't an ordinary mortal kid.
But, though Lilo didn't have powers of her own, she was definitely an extraordinary kid who understood the bizarre...
Oh, Lilo... Peter thought, looking around at the skeletal trees. Wherever you are, don't worry about me. I'm on my way.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a distant howl. Peter and Rapunzel both froze to look around warily.
"Was that a wolf?" Peter wondered aloud, squinting through the trees. There was no sign of life, but that sound was definitely real. He shook his head, silently cursing himself. Of course, something was bound to be living in this forest. That was just their luck. Peter thought that the horrible pollution might have scared any wildlife away. Of course, he was wrong.
Rapunzel looked fearfully around and slowly shook her head, whispering, "No... We don't have wolves out here."
Peter sighed. "Unless the zoo animals got free again."
Rapunzel couldn't help giggling. "At least we weren't the ones that let them out this time."
Peter smiled, despite the dire situation. "Well... We should keep moving and find someplace safe to hide. We don't want to be stuck out here at night... Especially since there's no telling what might be out here. I mean, they never did catch that bear, remember?"
Rapunzel couldn't help shuddering as she thought of it, looking cautiously around as she trudged after Peter.
Meg smirked as she looked Hercules up and down in his armor. He looked down and pretended to be focused on fastening his sword to his belt to hide his blush from her. She stepped toward him and reached up both hands to cup his face. He peered down at her, his blue eyes shining.
"You ready, Wonder Boy?" She murmured, plucking up the glowing vial that he'd been ignoring since it was given to him.
He hesitantly took the vial out of her hand and stared down at it, then looked doubtfully up at her. Her expression had become somber and she nodded at him, taking a step back to allow him space. He sighed and popped the cork out of the vial. A heavenly white glow reached up from within the glass and gently warmed the skin on his face. He smiled slightly to himself before bringing the vial to his lips and consuming the potion in one gulp. He set the empty vial down on the dresser and felt his entire being heat up from the inside, the godly energy radiating from his core. Meg watched serenely as a faint golden glow seemed to fill him up. Not really a literal glow, but the kind of dewy look a living thing might take on when it feels renewed; a faint aura of liveliness that is felt rather than seen. The health and power seemed to come off his tanned skin in waves.
She slowly approached him again, and he eagerly took her in his brawny arms and held her close, burying his face in her hair.
When she spoke, her tone was tremulous and thick, like she was holding in tears.
"Be careful out there, okay? I mean, even with all this power..." She trailed off and sighed. "Just remember that you aren't immortal yet, alright?"
He felt a pang in his chest and pulled back to look down into her worried face. "I promise." He reached up a hand to stroke her cheek, and then to play with a curl of her hair. "And you promise to stay right here and be safe, okay?"
She smirked. "I'll be waiting right here, Wonder Boy."
He pulled her close in another tight embrace, squeezing her to a nearly uncomfortable extent.
"I love you " He whispered.
She smiled, ignoring the lone tear that slipped down her cheek. "I love you, too."
Outside, everyone was bustling around or crowding in the bunker to see him off. Hercules received a few claps on the shoulder or a wish of good luck as he pushed through to get to the front. He kept Meg's hand clasped firmly in his the whole way.
"Are you ready, my boy?" Merlin asked him when Hercules finally reached the front of the bunker.
Hercules glanced down at Meg, who smirked and gave him a reassuring nod. He looked back up at Merlin and said, "Yes."
"Good. Yen is just bringing your transportation now." Merlin smiled and gestured behind them. Hercules and Meg turned to see the crowd of people parting to allow Yen to pass through with a large, graceful white stallion.
Hercules raised an eyebrow. "A horse?"
Yen proudly smirked and told everyone to stand back. The crowd obliged, and everyone gasped or cried out in surprise when a pair of glistening white wings, like a bird's, sprouted from the horses back.
Hercules' eyebrows shot impossibly high up. "Oh."
Merlin chuckled. "His name is Pegasus. And he's all yours."
"Better get moving, son." Yen said seriously.
Hercules nodded, but lingered for a moment to look down at Meg, still grasping her hand. She smiled and leaned up to give him a quick kiss and whisper, "Good luck." He nodded and finally tore himself from her side, slowly releasing her hand and striding toward the Pegasus. Merlin led Meg away from the doors and, with a snap of his fingers, they magically began to open.
Hercules climbed on top of the Pegasus and it made a noise of contentment, slightly shaking its head to and fro. Hercules smiled and patted the spot between the creature's ears, earning a pleased neigh. Hercules couldn't help laughing a little.
"Now, don't worry about where to go. Pegasus knows the way. Let him guide you. And once you reach Olympus, your priority is freeing your father. Once Zeus is loose, he can help you free the others and reclaim Olympus with no trouble. Then, you lead the Titans back this way, and we'll jump in to help. Understand?"
Hercules nodded. "Yes."
"Good. No messing around, boy. We're all counting on you." Yen finished sternly.
"But no pressure!" Merlin called from somewhere in the crowd.
Yen sighed and stepped back from Pegasus. "Good luck."
Hercules nodded again, taking hold of Pegasus' neck. "I won't let you down." He gave Pegasus a gentle kick in the side. The creature neighed and took off in a gallop toward the open doors. Then, it sprang into flight, gliding upward over the stairs. Once it reached the surface, it sailed up past the trees and into the open air, racing toward Olympus. Hercules couldn't help cheering as the air rushed over them.
Meg stood by and watched as the doors creaked to a close. Merlin placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, and she tried to offer the old wizard a smile. But her concern was plain, and Merlin didn't blame her.
"Now, onto another manner of business." Yen announced, looking over the crowd that listened intently. "There are two survivors who have escaped the enemy, and they need our help. They are lost in the woods, and we need a search party to go find them. We would go ourselves, but it would be too easy for the villains to trace our magic. We could end up leading them right to their escaped prisoners or, more importantly, this bunker. So we need a group of brave mortals to volunteer."
Kocoum and John both immediately stepped forward, then gave each other a weird look. Kocoum rolled his eyes and looked sternly up at Yen.
"I would like to volunteer." He said.
"Me too." John added coolly, ignoring Kocoum's glare.
Yen nodded. "Very good."
Pocahontas sighed to herself and also stepped out of the crowd. "I would also like to go."
A few people, including John, turned to her in surprise while Kocoum immediately began to argue. She held up a brisk hand to silence him and continued, "I am an excellent tracker, and I know those woods well. Plus, I can handle myself." She sent Kocoum a sharp look.
"Pocahontas..." Her father started, placing a hand on her shoulder.
She turned to smile up at him and took his hand in both of hers. "I'll be fine, father. I promise."
"Very well." Yen said coldly, looking over the crowd again. "Anyone else?"
Shang stepped forward now. "I would like to join the search party."
"And he won't go alone." Mulan's father said, limping forward now. "I shall accompany him."
"No!" A new voice called from the back of the crowd. A few people murmured in surprise as Mulan pushed her way through to the front and walked up to her father, who was staring at her in astonishment.
"Mulan-" He began to chastise her, but she cut him off by placing her hands on his shoulders and turning to Yen with a pleading look.
"Please, sir. My father is hurt. It is better to save his skills for a later time. I should go."
"But, Mulan-" Her dad started again, but she rambled on.
"I have been trained in many forms of martial arts, and I know how to use weapons for close-quarter combat. I can defend myself, and others, in a fight."
"But your skills have never been tested like this before, Mulan." Shang cut in. "Your dad has actually been in war."
"This isn't war we're talking about. It's a rescue mission." Yen rebuked. "If worst comes to worst, myself or Merlin or the Blue Fairy will come to get you out of there. The odds of any of you actually having to fight are slim." He looked down at Mulan and raised an eyebrow. "Let the girl go."
Mulan's father sighed and shakily gripped her hand. "Are you sure about this?"
"Yes, dad." She smiled and hugged him.
"I wanna go, too!"
Everyone turned to see Merida jogging up with her bow and arrows already on her back.
"Merida?" Pocahontas frowned. "Aren't you supposed to be in the infirmary?"
"Nah, I'm fine!" Merida waved the comment away and gestured toward the weapons on her back. "Besides, I really wanna put these bad boys to the test!" She grinned up at Yen. "So, can I go?"
"Fine." Yen droned.
Merida squealed in excitement. "Beauty!"
"Yes, I think this will be a sufficient group." Yen nodded unenthusiastically. "You'll leave immediately. Go collect whatever weapons and supplies you desire." He looked over the crowd again. "Everyone else, return to your prior duties."
The crowd dispersed, all chattering amongst themselves and some stopping to wish the members of the search party good luck. The group then went to pick up whatever they might need from the armory and and supply rooms.
"Are we going on foot?" John asked, casting a glance toward the stables.
"Yeah. We need to be as inconspicuous as possible." Shang answered.
John nodded and followed the others into the armory. While the rest picked through the assortments of weapons, Merida grabbed herself another quiver of arrows and a dagger. While she hooked the sheath onto her belt, she noticed Pocahontas already heading for the door. Looking her up and down, Merida saw that on each of Pocahontas's thighs, a dagger was strapped...and that was it.
"Is that all yer taking, lass?" Merida asked her.
Pocahontas turned to her and patted one of the knives' hilts. "I'm not a violent person. These are hunting daggers"
"Pocahontas, stop being ridiculous." Kocoum snapped. "How are you going to defend yourself with those?"
"She's actually quite good at throwing knives." John put in before he could stop himself. Kocoum stared at him blankly while Pocahontas bit her lip on a smile. John shrugged and continued, "If she really has to fight, she won't have to get close to the enemy."
"Okay, but what if something comes after you? What then?" Kocoum demanded.
Pocahontas smirked. "You've seen how fast I run. They'd have to catch me first."
"Pocahontas-"
She quickly cut him off. "I don't believe in fighting, Kocoum. You should know that about me by now. But, if it really comes down to it, I will be able to defend myself. So don't waste your energy worrying about me." She turned away from his wounded ego and told the others, "I'm going to go pick out supplies." And she turned on her heel and walked out. Kocoum turned his glare on the boxes of gun ammo as the door shut softly behind her. John couldn't help smirking.
After a few awkward moments of silence, Mulan turned to Merida and asked, "Do you think you could teach me to shoot arrows?"
Merida's eyebrows popped up in surprise, then her face melted into a prideful smile. "I'm sure I could."
"I could teach you." Shang jumped in, making both girls turn to him.
"You can shoot with a bow?" Merida asked.
Shang nodded. "I did all the time as a kid. It was something I learned in summer camp. It's been a few years, but..." He shrugged. "It's muscle memory. I'm sure I could pick it up again."
"Oh, that's right!" Mulan grinned. "You used to do archery competitions all the time."
Merida laughed. "Well, maybe we should have a contest of our own!"
"Guys? Maybe that should wait until after we get back from the important rescue mission." Kocoum rolled his eyes. "That's what the training room is for."
Mulan ducked her head and went back to looking at weapons while Merida muttered, "Right..." And left the room with a blush. Shang nodded stonily and turned his attention to the guns on the wall.
John strolled over to stand beside him and whispered sarcastically, "Well, this'll be fun, huh?"
Shang smirked and whispered back, "Yeah. Like a camping trip."
"But potentially with things trying to kill us..." John reached up to take an assault rifle off the wall and began to inspect it. "And toxic air threatening to collapse our lungs."
Shang fought the urge to laugh at that.
Soon, the search party had gathered everything they needed and been outfitted in protective armor, and were walking toward the front of the bunker to meet with Merlin and Blue. Mulan couldn't help giggling as she looked down at herself, causing Pocahontas to turn to her with an amused look.
"What is it?" Pocahontas asked quietly.
"Oh, nothing... It's just..." Mulan grinned. "It feels like we're in the Hunger Games or something."
Now Pocahontas smiled, shaking her head and turning her attention forward again. She could see how Mulan would draw that comparison. The group approached Merlin and Blue, who were waiting for them by the front door.
"I trust you grabbed a map?" Merlin asked them.
Pocahontas nodded and gestured toward the small black backpack she wore. "In here."
The wizard nodded. "Good. We've relocated the bunker so that you'll surface in the same woods that your targets are in. It'll make things easier for you."
"These are the survivors you're looking for." Blue waved her wand and conjured an image of the two kids hiking through the desolate, darkening forest.
Merida gasped. "Rapunzel!"
"And Peter!" Pocahontas smiled. "Well, Lilo's going to be happy."
"It is very important that both of them are brought back safely." Blue said. She smiled. "And, since they are your friends, I can assume that that won't be hard for you to ensure."
"You can count on us, ma'am." Shang nodded dutifully.
Blue smiled sweetly and approached each of them with open arms, wishing them all good luck as she hugged them. She took an extra moment while hugging Shang to whisper, "Your father would be very proud."
Shang blinked quickly to battle the tingling sensation in his eyes and nodded gratefully at her when she pulled away. Blue flew off to join the other fairies for training while Merlin remained with the group.
"We'll be watching the whole time to make sure nothing goes awry, so don't worry, you'll be perfectly safe." Merlin assured them. "If we suspect something's wrong, we'll be there in a flash. You all just focus on finding your friends and bringing them back quickly. And avoid being seen or heard." Merlin waved his hand and the doors began to open. He smiled at the group and said in finality, "Good luck."
Rapunzel shuddered and hugged herself as she sat on the overturned log while Peter was busy pacing around and looking for the right way.
"How did it get so cold?" She gasped as she continued to shake. "I wish we could light a fire..."
Peter chuckled dryly. "I think it would be all too easy to start a fire in this place. But we don't want to be spotted..."
"Any luck finding a trail?" She asked hopefully. They needed to get moving soon or she was sure she'd freeze to death.
Peter sighed and continued to look around. "No..." He groaned. "Everything looks so different. I have no idea where we are..."
"Maybe we should just pick a direction and follow it. I mean, if it's so easy to get turned around in the place any way..." She suggested.
"You really wanna risk getting more lost?" He asked mildly, still searching the trees.
"If it means possibly stumbling on the way out, then yes." She answered optimistically.
After a moment of debating in his own head, Peter nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. Besides, it's best to keep moving when it's cold like this."
Rapunzel sighed gratefully. "Oh, thank you..."
He grinned and held out a hand. "Come on. We don't want to get separated while we stumble around in the dark."
Rapunzel smiled back and took his hand, letting him help her to stand. They hooked arms and started to walk purposefully into the trees to their right, laughing quietly over their crazy situation. The movement and laughter stopped abruptly, however, when another howl sounded from up ahead.
"The wolves..." Rapunzel whispered.
The noise was repeated, much closer this time. Uncomfortably close.
"They're coming this way..." Peter muttered, starting to lead Rapunzel in the opposite direction. As they quickly moved through the woods, Rapunzel whimpered, "What do we do if they catch up to us?"
"We run." Peter answered automatically.
As if on cue, there was a snarl from a few yards behind them. The two linked hands and began to sprint.
In the bunker, everyone was bustling around, fretting over what was happening on Olympus or wondering if the search for Peter and Rapunzel was going well. Phillip was sitting with Phoebus and Naveen for a quick lunch; the three of them had a free hour from training and needed the down time. So the last thing any of them were expecting was for a student from Tom Thumb to walk up to their table with a concerned look on his face.
"Are you Phillip?" The guy asked as he unceremoniously dropped in on their table.
Phillip raised his eyebrows and slowly answered, "Yes..."
"Can you come with me? I kinda need your help with something..."
"Who are you?" Naveen asked.
"My name's Dimitri. I'm from Tom Thumb. Now, please come with me? It's urgent." He answered quickly.
Phillip nodded and started to rise from his seat. He looked at Phoebus and Naveen expectantly and asked, "You guys coming with?"
Naveen grinned and eagerly jumped up while Phoebus sighed and muttered, "I guess", before standing as well. The three of them followed Dimitri out of the dining hall and into the library, where he led them to a regal-looking elderly woman sitting by the fireplace and staring into the flames with a lost expression. Dimitri cleared his throat and the woman looked up at the group of boys sadly.
"I found Phillip, ma'am. And two other guys who I think are willing to help." Dimitri said. Naveen smiled and nodded while Phoebus cocked up one eyebrow.
"How can we help, ma'am?" Phillip asked the old woman.
She gestured for Phillip to sit in the chair that sat opposite her and he politely obliged. The other three stood around beside the two chairs.
She jumped into the explanation, not wanting to waste time. "You may know my granddaughter, Anya? She is a cheerleader at Tom Thumb High."
Phillip nodded. "Yeah, I think I met her a few times."
"She is missing." Anya's grandmother said shortly.
Phillip's expression immediately mirrored his regret. "Oh... I'm sorry. Did she not make it to the bunker?"
The old woman shook her head. "No, she did. But she has disappeared from the bunker."
Naveen frowned. "How is that possible?"
"Maybe she left voluntarily?" Phoebus shrugged.
She grimly shook her head. "No. She might have left, but not voluntarily."
"What do you mean?" Phillip asked.
"She must have been hypnotized by Rasputin. One of the evil sorcerers who has brought this hell upon us. He killed Anya's family when she was just a little girl, and before he could get to her, he supposedly died. But, his vengeful spirit was never laid to rest, and his corpse has relied on dark magic so that he could come after my poor granddaughter. He's been targeting her her whole life, wanting to put an end to our family for good. He has visited her many times in her dreams, enticing her to do terrible things to end her own life. I've kept a close watch on her, always managed to wake her in time, but it became obvious a short while ago that the nightmares were taking their toll. He was driving her mad."
"Have you talked to Yen about this? Or Merlin?" Phillip asked.
She scoffed. "I have. They're too wrapped up in the events on Olympus and trying to protect the seas. They're putting all their magic into that. They won't risk the fate of the world on one girl's life. They won't save my Anya..." She pointed at Phillip. "But you can."
"What?" Phillip blanched.
"Yen Sid told me that if there were a person to send after my granddaughter- to save her- it would be you." She tilted her head. "You are the one destined to break young Aurora's curse, aren't you?"
Phillip solemnly nodded.
"Well, this is a curse not unlike Aurora's. But much easier to break. Please, Phillip..." She reached over and placed her hand on his in desperation. "Don't let this madman continue to torture my Anya. Don't let him kill her. She is the only family I have left."
"Well, ma'am... I mean, I wish I could, but... You're asking me to go up against an evil sorcerer with no magical reinforcements." Phillip said slowly.
"You won't have to face Rasputin." She shook her head. "The coward won't come after Anya himself, or he would have done it years ago. I just need you to find her, wake her up before she's put in any peril he might have conjured, and bring her back to me. Yen Sid has already promised to see personally to Rasputin's execution. I just need my granddaughter out of danger."
"Well... I mean... I've seen the monsters that man can conjure, ma'am. And I just think it's too risky to..." He trailed off. Was he really telling this poor old woman 'no'?
"Now, hang on." Naveen cut in, earning surprised looks from all of them. "We've outrun those things before. We can handle them again."
"'We'?" Phillip's lip twitched up in a slight smile.
"What, you think I'm not coming with you?" Naveen grinned. "I wouldn't miss this for the world!"
"Yeah, we can't let you do this alone." Phoebus said more seriously, but he was still smirking.
"Dimitri shall go with you as well." Anya's grandmother added. "He has helped me in situations like this before. He can help you find her."
Dimitri nodded in agreement.
"Alright, then... Looks like we've got nothing to lose." Phillip stood up and held out a hand for the old woman to shake. "We'll get your granddaughter back, ma'am."
The old woman sighed in relief and leaned back in her chair with a tired smile. "Oh, thank you... Thank you so much."
Phillip nodded, then turned to the other three. "We need to pick up some weapons. Then we can head out."
Shang turned his flashlight to either side of him as he walked, leading the group further into the dark forest. Kocoum was walking a few paces to his left and Merida to his right, each using a flashlight to see around their perimeter. Shang focused his light up ahead and stepped carefully, calling out a warning when there was a sudden dip or a pit of black sludge to avoid. Every couple of minutes someone would call out Peter or Rapunzel's names and hope for an answer. But so far there had been no sign of them.
Pocahontas sighed. "We've been at this for two hours now. They must be more lost than we thought..."
"I'm sure we'll find them soon." John assured her, looking around the trees for any clue.
"Maybe if we could find footprints or something..." Mulan said.
"I doubt they stopped for a breather after escaping the nutjobs." Merida commented.
"We should be quiet." Kocoum cut in seriously. "In case any enemies are out here, we don't want to alert them. I'm sure we're not the only ones looking for these kids."
It was quiet for a moment. Then, Shang spoke up again.
"Were you ever in the military, Kocoum?"
Kocoum didn't respond for a moment, and at first everyone thought that he was ignoring the question. Then, he nodded and quietly replied.
"I joined straight out of high school. That's what I did before joining mine and Pocahontas's fathers in business. Why do you ask?"
Shang shrugged. "You seem like it."
It was quiet for another moment. Then Kocoum asked him, "Are you considering the military life, Shang?"
Shang nodded. "Every man in my family has served. Seems only right to follow in their footsteps."
"But you want to do it, right?" Mulan asked.
"Of course I do. I've been preparing for it my whole life."
They all slowed to a stop when they heard growling and snarling from far away. They looked in every direction for the source of the noise, but saw nothing. There was a howl in the distance and a few of them drew their weapons.
"Wolves." Merida said, preparing an arrow.
"We should get out of here." Mulan whispered.
"Wait!" Pocahontas hissed, forcing them all to stop. "Listen..."
They stayed silent and listened to the sounds of the wolves, which were accompanied by the sounds of footfalls.
"They're chasing something..." John muttered.
The faint sounds of heavy breathing and the occasional cry of fear reached their ears.
"That's Rapunzel!" Merida cried, taking off toward the sounds.
"Merida, wait!" Shang called, but she'd already disappeared into the trees.
"Damn it!" Kocoum growled, taking off after her. "Come on!"
They all followed him and Merida, sprinting toward a vacant field of dirt, where they saw Rapunzel and Peter close to being cornered by the snarling pack of wolves.
"Ellie!" Merida screeched, loosing an arrow at the wolf at the head of the pack. The arrow lodged itself in the wolf's eye socket and the creature wailed and writhed on the ground. The other wolves turned to snarl at Merida as she pulled back another arrow.
Rapunzel gasped and turned to grin at the approaching group. "Merida!"
"Are you guys okay?" Mulan called, unseathing her sword.
"Physically? Yeah..." Peter replied between gasps for breath.
One of the wolves growled and began to slink toward the group. A few others followed while the rest continued to creep toward Peter and Rapunzel.
"What do we do?!" Rapunzel cried.
"Don't panic!" Shang called in response.
"Okay... What else do we do?!" Peter demanded uneasily as one wolf snapped its jaws menacingly at him.
Merida and Kocoum were facing off with the wolves that snarled and barked savagely at them. One wolf darted toward Kocoum's leg and he shot it in the foot. The wolf whimpered and shrank back while its companions angrily growled and kept up their pursuit.
"We'll distract them. You guys go get Rapunzel and Peter." Kocoum called back to the others.
"Kocoum-" Pocahontas started to protest.
"Just do it!" He snapped. "On the count of three..." His eyes flickered briefly toward Merida and she nodded at him. He refocused on the animals that drew closer. "One... Two... Three!"
"It's probably not a great idea to be out in the open like this..." Phillip said as he, Dimitri, Phoebus and Naveen were crossing the wreck that Main Street had become.
Dimitri sighed. "He wouldn't take her anywhere remote. He always wanted her death to be public. You know, trick her into dropping herself off a building or something... Besides, all the bad guys are just as distracted by everything else going on as Yen and Merlin are."
Phillip nodded and looked around. "That's probably true..."
Phoebus's eyes were resting on the bell tower. Naveen noticed this and decided to take it upon himself to distract his friend.
"I suppose this is a nice warm-up for military life, eh, Phoebus?"
Phoebus couldn't help chuckling at this. "Oh, yeah... Surviving the apocalypse. They'll give me an officer's position for sure."
Now Naveen laughed too. "Yes, I bet they'll begging you to lead our troops to victory against...whoever the hell we're at war with."
"Uh, guys? I'm pretty sure that whatever wars we're fighting have fallen into the wayside in light of the world ending and all." Dimitri smirked.
"The world's not going to end." Phillip said, kicking at a stone in his path.
Dimitri raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that?"
Phillip nodded. "I have faith in Merlin and everyone else fighting to make sure that doesn't happen. We can handle whatever the bad guys throw at us."
"Besides, the fact that Merlin even has a bunker is proof enough that they've faced this before... I mean, not exactly this, but at least something like it." Naveen commented.
"Yen did say that Kronos has been freed a few times before, but that had to be ages ago. Like, biblical times." Phoebus said lowly.
"But what about the fire at the school from about twenty years ago?" Phillip asked.
Phoebus shook his head. "That was caused by a bunch of students who went psycho. Not exactly apocalypse-level stuff."
"But maybe a first attempt at it." Naveen realized aloud.
Phoebus frowned at him. "You think so?"
Naveen shrugged. "The people we're up against now are old enough to have been students at the Academy back then."
"And, in that fire, the only thing left of the old school was..." Phillip trailed off and pointed behind them and upward.
"The bell tower." Phoebus grumbled, giving the untouched structure a withering look.
"It must be protected somehow." Phillip shrugged as they continued walking. "Must be important."
Dimitri chuckled and shook his head. "Your guys' school is so weird."
"At least our quarterbacks can score." Phillip joked.
Dimitri laughed at this, then cut himself off and froze in place. "Wait, do you hear that?"
They all followed suit and listened for whatever Dimitri was hearing. It was faint, but they could still easily recognize the familiar sound of waves crashing over rocks and on the sand.
"The beach... Sounds like the waves are going crazy." Phoebus observed.
Naveen turned in the direction of the beach and saw dark clouds swirling over the churning waters. "Looks like another storm us coming..." Naveen trailed off and gasped. "Oh, my God..."
"What?" Dimitri immediately demanded.
"Anya... Is she tall, with red hair?"
"Yes!"
"She's in the beach! Headed toward the pier!"
"Oh, God, he's gonna try to drown her! Let's go!" Dimitri shouted, taking off into a run toward the shore. The other three sprinted after him. Phoebus took the lead in a matter of moments (being captain of the boys track team had paid off ), with Phillip close behind and Dimitri and Naveen dragging only slightly. All four propelled themselves onto the boardwalk, their heavy boots clomping thunderously on the wood.
"There!" Phoebus yelled, pointing toward where he saw Anya walking down the pier in her trance.
Phillip couldn't help thinking of Ariel when he saw this. And remembering what her "death" had done to Eric; what it still did to him from time to time. And now, looking at Dimitri's panicked face, Phillip knew that he couldn't let the same thing happen twice. He couldn't let Dimitri go through what Eric did. Because in this case, there would be one very significant difference: Anya would actually be dead.
"We can still catch her!" Phillip called. "Push it!"
At his insistance, the four of them ran faster than any of them ever believed they could, their adrenaline rushes making it easy to ignore how shaken and heavy their legs felt. They barreled down the pier, quickly gaining on Anya's teetering form. They all shouted her name as loud as they could, hoping to be heard over the noise of the thunder overhead and the waters roaring below. The wind howled around them.
"Anya, no!" Dimitri cried as she took her first fatal step off the edge.
She was suddenly flailing wildly and screaming, trying to right herself. She must have been awakened somehow... Rasputin probably wanted her conscious for her demise. She was trying her best to get balanced again, but the wind gusting and the pier shaking with each striking wave was only ensuring her death. She finally slipped off the edge and started to fall through the air and toward the dark waters with another scream.
Demitri, luckily, had reached her just in time and threw himself forward to wrap his arms around her and wrench her back to safety. He held her while she continued to scream and cry and even started beating her fists against him in an attempt to escape, part of her mind still trapped in the dream. But when she heard his voice shouting that everything was alright, she settled down and threw her arms around him, sobbing and burying her face in his chest.
"There were faces... I kept seeing faces, so many faces..." She whimpered, wildly shaking her head and clinging to him like a child. He softly hushed her and held her close, starting to lead her away from the edge of the pier.
"She's alright?" Naveen asked.
Dimitri nodded. "In a way... Come on, let's get back to the bunker." He peered down at Anya and muttered something in Russian. She visibly calmed down, and even smiled a little.
"Not so fast!" A gruff voice with a thick Russian accent shouted from further up the pier. Anya gasped and shrank into Dimitri for protection. The boys all turned to see Rasputin standing there, smiling maniacally at them all. His yellow eyes narrowed at Anya.
"I won't wait any longer, girl. The Romanov bloodline will be cut tonight!" He growled, weilding his strange glowing reliquary. The green light that shone from within it burned vibrantly and a ghostly hum resounded through the air. Spirits began to leak forth and fly toward the group.
"Uh, what's the plan here?" Phoebus asked.
"Duck!" Phillip yelled.
The five of them dove down onto the wooden pier and threw their arms over their heads to shield themselves. Anya began to cry out when a bat creature swooped down and grabbed her, trying to carry her away into the air. But Dimitri wasn't releasing his grip on her.
"Guys!" Dimitri shouted.
"I'll help him, you two go get that freaky lantern thing from Rasputin!" Naveen hissed, crawling toward Dimitri and Anya.
"What? Why?" Phillip demanded.
"It's obviously the source of his power! If you destroy it, you defeat him!" Naveen replied without turning back.
Phillip and Phoebus shared a look before both pulling out their guns.
"You ever fire a gun before?" Phoebus asked.
Phillip nodded. "Yeah, dad used to take me shooting all the time. You?"
"Uh..." Phoebus shrugged. "Mostly in video games."
Phillip stared at him for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, then. Let's go get the freaky lantern thing."
Phoebus sighed and glared toward Rasputin. "Right."
The two raised their guns and jumped up into a run toward the sorcerer, firing at him and striking him multiple times in the chest. Rasputin stumbled slightly, but never wavered. The bullets seemed to have no effect on him.
"Shit, dude, he's already a corpse!" Phoebus shouted.
"We...did not...think this through." Phillip muttered, firing a few more experimental shots at Rasputin.
Rasputin growled in fury and raised the reliquary higher. The green glow intensified again and two large green bats swooped down and plucked Phoebus and Phillip up off the dock, carrying them toward the boardwalk.
Naveen and Dimitri were both standing over Anya and battling their own monsters, firing at the creatures to ward them off. Rasputin stomped his foot and brandished the reliquary mercilessly, causing the dock to split in half. Naveen and Demitri both grabbed hold of Anya and dragged her as they ran toward the rift. Their side of the dock was falling into the sea, tipping into a vertical line. The three of them ran as fast and as hard as they could, eventually reaching the tipped edge and launching themselves toward the other half of the pier. They fell through the air and collided with the wooden pier while the half that had broken off sank into the roiling, black water.
As they were catching their breath, the wood underneath Anya suddenly snapped and she nearly fell down into the ocean, clinging to the splintering edge of the wood with shaking hands. Dimitri dove toward her, but another bat swooped in and knocked him backward, pinning him. Dimitri's head cracked against the wood and he was knocked out.
"Dimitri!" Naveen shouted as he was being dragged away by another monstrous bat.
Rasputin laughed darkly as he approached the edge that Anya hung from. "Finally... Finally I will have my vengeance. Do svidaniya!" He continued to laugh until an object struck the back of his head. He turned angrily to see that Phillip had thrown a rock at him. Rasputin summoned more demonic creatures to keep Phillip and Phoebus at bay, then turned to see that Anya was no longer below him. Assuming that she'd fallen into the sea, he laughed and threw his hands up victoriously. "Yes!" He cackled and mockingly called, "Long live the Romanovs! "
"Right!"
Rasputin paused his laughter. "Huh?" He turned and gasped at the sight of Anya, completely unharmed, standing a few feet to his right. She must have climbed up when he wasn't looking.
"I couldn't have said it better myself!" Anya spat, launching herself at him and tackling him to the ground. They wrestled for a moment until the reliquary was knocked out of Rasputin's grasp and skidded further up the dock.
"No!" Rasputin cried, trying to crawl after it. But Anya shoved him down onto the dock and ran for it herself.
Phillip reached it first and kicked it toward her. "Anya!"
"I got it!" She called as it rolled under her foot. She pressed her foot down to stop it, applying just enough pressure to create cracks in the glass. The thing glowed violently red and all the creatures that did Rasputin's bidding now shrieked in pain and withered away, burnt up by the red light.
"No!" Rasputin cried, stumbling toward Anya.
She cast one look toward where Dimitri lay unconscious, then glared at Rasputin and seethed, "This is for Dimitri!" She stomped on the reliquary, breaking it further.
"No! " Rasputin howled, trying to grab her. "Stop it, you brat!"
"This is for my family!" She continued, stomping on it again.
"I'll tear you to pieces!" Rasputin growled as he kept trying to attack her.
"And this... This is for you!"
"No!"
"Do svidaniya." Anya growled, bringing her foot down once more. With one final, deafening crack, the reliquary was destroyed. Rasputin howled in terror as the sky was flooded with green light and all the spirits were released, circling through the air like a flock of rabid bats. Then they all dove down on him at once, biting him. Green light shot out through the wounds, and then the creatures all faded away. Rasputin hunched over as his flesh melted, pooling below him. He threw off his cloak to reveal just a black skeleton was left, shuddering and chattering spasticly, then crumbling to dust. In a matter of seconds, all traces of Rasputin had turned to ash and been carried away by the icy wind. The kids all stood there in awe.
Then, Anya ran to Dimitri and shook him awake.
"We really need to get back to the bunker now." Phoebus said. "Before any of Rasputin's friends come along to avenge him."
Phillip nodded. "Right. Let's go."
"Three!"
Merida and Kocoum immediately began to open fire on the wolves that leapt at them while John, Shang, Mulan and Pocahontas all ran toward Rapunzel and Peter, firing at the other half of the pack which had them cornered. The animals snarled, and a few tried to jump on their attackers, but were quickly shot down. Most of the wolves were killed, but some were only left wounded and ran away, disappearing into the trees. Pocahontas grabbed Rapunzel by the hand and the two ran away, followed swiftly by everyone else. They reached Merida and Kocoum just as Merida loosed a final arrow to put down the last wolf.
"We need to get out of here!" Mulan cried.
"Yeah, no telling what other predators might be hanging around." John panted.
There was a sudden snarl and, before any one could do anything, a wolf leapt put of the shadows and tackled Kocoum, mauling him on the ground. Kocoum let out a strangled cry of pain as the beast tore at his throat.
"Kocoum!" Pocahontas screamed. She looked around at the others. "Someone shoot it!"
Merida was already aiming an arrow, but hesitating. She grunted in frustration. "I can't kill it without hitting Kocoum!"
Shang watched in horror as Kocoum's eyes rolled back in his head. He was as good as dead already. The least they could do was put him out of his misery.
"Just shoot!" Shang yelled.
Merida loosed the arrow without having to be told twice. In an instant, both the wolf and Kocoum fell completely still and silent. Rapunzel screamed and covered her eyes. Pocahontas's hands flew up to her mouth and she turned away. There were a few moments of silence as everyone tried to overcome their shock. Pocahontas was silently crying.
"What... What are we gonna do?" Mulan finally asked. "Can we carry him?"
A choking sound made its way past Pocahontas's lips. John placed a hand on her shoulder.
Shang sadly shook his head. "I don't think that would be wise... I mean, he might attract other animals. And he'll slow us down."
"Maybe we could have Yen or someone come find him later?" Mulan suggested unconvincingly.
"You mean after those wolves come for seconds?" Pocahontas snapped.
"Pocahontas... We all knew what we were risking when we came out here." Shang said calmly.
"Oh? We knew that getting eaten alive was a possibility? I guess I missed the memo."
Shang looked at her for a moment, then shook his head. "We have to leave him here."
There was another moment of silence before they continued on their way. Pocahontas lingered, bending down to close Kocoum's eyes. She stood up and stared down at him for a moment. When she looked up, she noticed John waiting for her. She brushed past him to follow the others.
They walked in absolute silence for awhile, Pocahontas keeping herself busy by guiding them with her map.
After about an hour of walking, there was a sound of something crashing in the trees nearby. The group froze and turned toward the sound, but there was nothing to be seen. They were going to start moving again, but Merida spotted movement in the shadows and called out, bringing up her bow and loading an arrow at a black mass moving toward them. They all drew their weapons as the massive beast lumbered toward them, then reared up on its hind legs to reveal it full height. The glowing eyes of the behemoth narrowed and it unleashed a fearsome roar.
Merida groaned as she aimed up at it. "It's that damn bear!"
Esmeralda stood at the edge of the treeline, looking over the empty Main Street and waiting anxiously. She heard a twig snap behind her and whirled around to see Tiana walking up to her with a smile. Esmeralda sighed in relief and laughed quietly at herself before returning Tiana's smile. They stood together to watch the street.
"Still waiting for Phoebus?" Tiana asked quietly.
Esmeralda nodded. Then, her concern was brushed aside by annoyance and she couldn't keep from scoffing and rolling her eyes. "How mature of him to run off on some adventure without telling me. I mean, to have to find out from Yen? That's just embarrassing."
Tiana giggled. "I'm sure he wasn't trying to hide it from you or anything. They probably just had to leave in a hurry."
"Still... He could have come and found me, let me know something. I mean, maybe I would have wanted to come, too! But did he think of that? No."
Tiana raised an eyebrow. "Would you have really wanted to go?"
"Of course, if it meant getting to make sure he was safe... How are you so calm? Aren't you worried about Naveen?"
Tiana's expression softened and she looked out at the street. "Of course I am. But I also know that he can handle himself, and that he wouldn't get himself into something he couldn't handle." She smirked at Esme. "He and Phoebus are a lot alike that way."
"Alright, I see your point." Esmeralda chuckled, shaking her head.
Tiana grinned and turned back to the street. She spotted something and her eyes widened.
.
"They're back." She whispered.
Esmeralda followed her gaze and grinned at the sight of the boys returning with Dimitri and Anya. Esmeralda ran toward Phoebus, who stood in the street with open arms. She threw herself at him and he scooped her up and spun her around with a laugh.
"Miss me?" He joked.
"Only slightly." She giggled and pulled back to look up at him, then gasped. "You're hurt!"
He shrugged. "Yeah, I've got a few bumps and bruises..."
"Bumps and bruises? Phoebus, you're bleeding!" She pointed at the cut on his forehead.
He chuckled. "Babe, I just need a band-aid. I'm really fine."
Tiana had joined them well before this point and Naveen had his arm wrapped snugly around his shoulders. Tiana smiled at the redhead and told her, "Anya, I'm so glad you're alright."
Before Anya could reply, another voice said in a dangerously low tone, "Well, soon none of you will be."
They all turned in alarm to see Facilier standing behind them, wearing his voodoo mask. His totem glowed red, reflecting his rage. His purple eyes burned as he stepped toward them, prompting them all to slowly back away.
"Rasputin may have been a stiff, crazy undead bastard, but he was the closest thing to a friend I ever had." Facilier growled. "And now... You've killed him." He tipped his head back regally to peer down at them. "So I guess I'll just have to return the favor."
He twirled his staff and suddenly they were surrounded by unnaturally dark, grotesquely-shaped shadows. Facilier laughed as the kids cowered while the shadows started to close in.
Naveen slowly shook his head. "These shadows..." He turned to the wickedly grinning Facilier and narrowed his eyes. "It's you."
Facilier chuckled. "You didn't really think you could escape me..." He gestured toward the talisman around his neck, the carved lines glowing ominously red. "Did you, boy?"
"I can't believe I didn't realize... You've been following me this whole time!" Naveen glared at him.
"Naveen, what are you talking about?" Tiana frowned.
"It's a lot to explain right now, Tia." Naveen replied quietly.
"Oh, go ahead and let her know! You've got the rest of your lives to get it all out." Facilier grinned maliciously.
A shadow suddenly leapt forward and latched onto Tiana's ankle, yanking her feet out from under her. She screamed as the thing started to drag her away.
"Tiana!" Naveen yelled, jumping forward to grab her hands and pull her back.
Dimitri, Phillip, and Phoebus had all pulled out their guns and were aiming at Facilier.
"Call them off!" Phillip barked.
"I'm guessing this is the witch doctor who drove you out of Maldonia?" Phoebus asked Naveen briskly.
"What? What the hell are you guys talking about?" Phillip demanded.
Facilier was starting to take slow, deliberate steps toward them. The three boys opened fire, but Facilier deflected all their bullets with a wave of his hand. Then the shadows swooped in, trapping the kids or trying to carry them away.
"You know... It would be a lot easier to kill you if you were a little smaller..." Facilier chuckled and snapped his fingers in Naveen's direction. Naveen was smothered in a cloud of purple smoke, and Tiana's hands were suddenly released. As she was being dragged away, she watched the smoke dissipate to reveal a tiny firefly hovering in Naveen's place.
"Naveen?!" She called as she was dragged backward through the gravel.
The firefly buzzed and fluttered toward her, but his flight was interrupted when Facilier's shadow reached out and snagged him out of the air. Facilier laughed victoriously as the shadow brought the firefly to him and dropped the bug in his open palm. Facilier quickly closed his fingers over the firefly.
"Oh, it's about time. Now I can finally pay my debt. And just in time, too!" Facilier held the firefly close to his glowing talisman. "The blood I got from you all those years ago was just starting to go stale..."
"Hey! " Another voice called from a few feet away.
Facilier looked up in disinterest to see Esmeralda standing there with her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face.
Phoebus looked around in confusion. "How did she-?"
"You think your shadows are fast enough to catch me?" Esme called tauntingly to Facilier before taking off toward the trees.
He rolled his eyes and muttered, "Well, that's a stupid question." He snapped his fingers and suddenly all the shadows had their attention on Esme's retreating form. The shadows squealed or growled and took off after her, leaving the rest of the group to face Facilier. Phillip ran to help Tiana up off the ground.
Facilier scoffed and called after the shadows, "Well, I didn't mean all of you! But no matter..." He grinned at the kids. "There's not much ya'll can do at this point. Once I squish your pesky little friend here..." He held up the squeaking firefly and chuckled. "It's all over."
"You put him down, you-!" Tiana began to yell and tried to run at him, but Phillip and Phoebus were holding her back.
"Don't test me, little girl!" Facilier snapped, pointing his staff at her. "It can think of a lot of things to turn you into that are worse than a slimy little frog!"
They were all suddenly distracted by the sounds of shrieking in the woods nearby. They all turned to see a faint glow amidst the trees.
"What the hell?" Facilier mumbled, squinting as the light drifted toward them, becoming blinding.
"It's Blue..." Tiana whispered, sighing in relief.
The light soon became too close and too bright for any of them to look at. They all ducked their heads and waited for the residual warmth of the light to fade away. Then, they all looked up to see Cindy standing there proudly, in her sparkling white gown and glass slippers. She brandished her glistening wand and faced Facilier with a stern expression. Esmeralda was standing back at the treeline and watching in awe.
"Sorry about your shadow friends." Cindy told Facilier with mock-sympathy. "Who would have guessed that their aversion to light was so strong?" She tapped her wand in her other palm thoughtfully, sprinkling fairy dust everywhere.
Facilier stared at her openly in shock for a moment, then scoffed and shook his head. "And just who are you supposed to be, kid?"
Cindy paused, narrowing her eyes at him. "I'm the White Fairy."
Facilier's eyes widened and his jaw dropped open. "No... It can't be... I-I thought we-"
"I know very well what you monsters did to her all those years ago." Cindy lifted her chin and took a step forward, prompting him to back away. He actually seemed scared. Cindy smiled sweetly at him. "I'm her replacement."
"What- what do you want?! The bug? Here, take him!" Facilier flung Naveen away from him. Naveen faltered in the air for a moment, then righted himself and started flying toward Tiana. Then, he stopped himself and turned back toward Facilier.
"Naveen?" Tiana called hesitantly.
The firefly trilled and dove back toward Facilier, landing on the precious talisman around the Shadow Man's throat. Facilier shouted and tried to swat at Naveen, but the bug was too quick and managed to yank the totem off of Facilier's neck. Facilier tried to catch him as he flew away, but Cindy made Facilier freeze in his place with a wave of her wand. Naveen brought the talisman to her and dropped it in her hand, then hovered over her shoulder, buzzing spasticly. Cindy looked down at the wooden face in her palm. Sensing the dark magic emanating from it, feeling Naveen's blood pulse through it, made her cringe. She waved her wand again, freeing Facilier. He stared at her in fear. Even his twisted shadow didn't dare to make a move.
"It would be nice for you to stop terrorizing everyone I love. It would be nice if you'd leave all the innocent people of the world alone..." She closed her fingers over the talisman slowly. "But I know that the only way to ensure that is to stop you once and for all." Her eyes softened slightly. "I'm so sorry it had to come to this."
"No!" Facilier cried. He turned to his shadow and pointed at Cindy. "Stop her!"
The shadow shrieked and threw itself toward Cindy. She frowned and flung the talisman down to the ground with enough force to make it crack into many small pieces. The shadow and Facilier both gasped as the talisman's power rushed out of it, leaving a few dark chunks of wood crumbling on the street. Cindy stepped back, raising her wand to catch Naveen from falling out of the air as he became himself again. (And also magicking him into some clothes.) She lowered him down to the ground and he gave her a quick hug of thanks before running back to Tiana. Facilier fell to his knees and desperately tried to scoop up the broken pieces of his talisman.
"No... No! How will I ever pay back my debt?!" He yelled frantically.
The ground beneath their feet suddenly started to rumble. Cindy glided backwards to join the group and, with a wave of her wand, created a shield over all of them.
"You guys may not want to watch this." She whispered to them.
Out of nowhere, rising up out of the concrete or coming forth from the stone walls of buildings, an assortment of terrifying wooden voodoo masks drifted toward Facilier while sparks of colorful light shot randomly through the air and a strange fog rolled in.
"Are you ready, Facilier?" A group of dark voices taunted him.
"No, I'm not! I'm not ready at all!" Facilier cried fearfully, backing away from them. "I just need a little more time! And you guys can have all the souls you want from this place! I promise I'll pay ya'll back! I promise! "
He was met with cruel laughter. Facilier turned and began to run away as the largest totem was settling on the ground and opening its large mouth to reveal a swirling green vortex. A dark shadow leapt out and latched onto Facilier's shadow, yanking it back. And once the shadow was caught, so was Facilier. Both were dragged backward, kicking and screaming, into the menacing vortex. Once Facilier was completely engulfed, the mask slammed it's sharp teeth shut, and everything vanished in a thick puff of purple smoke. The smoke quickly melted away and Cindy lowered the shield, stepping forward until she came to a tiny object sitting on the ground. A talisman, much like the one Facilier had worn, but with a different face... A sickeningly familiar face. Cindy sighed and set the talisman on the ground, giving Facilier's frightened face one last look before bringing one of her glass slippers down to crush the thing. A faint whisper of pain met her ears, but she ignored it and kicked away all the broken pieces. The others were slowly joining her.
"What happened to him?" Anya asked.
"A fate far worse than death." Cindy replied sadly. "That's what happens when you make deals in dark magic."
"Cindy... Thank you so much." Tiana said after a moment, keeping her arms around Naveen. "For saving us."
Cindy smiled as she watched Esmeralda run to Phoebus. "Well, what else would I have done?"
"Uh... Cindy? If you don't mind me asking..." Phillip sheepishly looked at her. "Why did you come? Instead of someone like Blue, maybe?"
Cindy's expression clouded. "Blue was busy..."
They all heard what sounded like an explosion coming from the woods and turned toward the noise. Cindy drew her wand and said, "Quickly, gather together. The bunker's in trouble. I'll transport us there."
"Alright, guys... No sudden movements." Merida said lowly, aiming her arrow between the bear's glowing eyes. "I'll take care of this."
"Getting awfully far with those arrows, aren't you?" Pocahontas muttered angrily.
Merida turned to glare at her. "What was that?"
The bear bellowed fiercely and started to barrel toward the group on all fours. Merida whipped back around to loose her arrow, which pierced the beast's shoulder deeply. But the bear didn't waver. It didn't even seem to notice the attack as it advanced on them. Merida shot another arrow at the bear's head, but the bear suddenly reared up and batted the arrow away with one monstrous paw.
"Oh, no..." Merida turned to the others and yelled, "Run! "
They all sprinted through the trees, bounding to and fro in attempts to confuse the bear. It roared as it pursued them, thundering over the forest floor and knocking over a few weak trees. They reached a clearing and kicked up a lot of dirt as they ran over it. But as they were running, a bony hand shot up out of the ground and wrapped itself around Rapunzel's ankle. She screamed as she fell over onto the ground. Peter turned to grab her hands and try to pull her out of the skeleton's grip. Merida tried to help him, but then saw the giant bear lumbering toward them. Merida stood in front of her struggling friends and drew up her bow again, preparing an arrow as she shouted for the others to help Peter and Rapunzel. The rest of the group ran over, some helping Peter to pull Rapunzel up while the others drew their weapons and stood with Merida to face the demonic bear.
There was another roar from behind them and they all turned to see another massive bear- a brown one, this time- running over from the other side of the clearing. It wore a strange leather pack around its broad neck.
Merida groaned. "Not another one!"
A few turned to aim their guns at the second bear, but soon realized that it wasn't focused on attacking them. The grizzly ran around the group and lunged at the black one, shoving it backward. The two bears wrestled and snarled, shoving each other around and snapping at each other's necks. Pocahontas was just prying the bones away from Rapunzel's ankle while the rest of the group slowly slunk backwards, away from the battling animals.
"Let's get out of here... Now." John whispered, helping Rapunzel stand up.
As they were backing away, Mulan spotted something familiar peeking out from the brown fur on the grizzly's chest. She squinted at the object, trying to get a better look at it, but it was too dark. Then, when the grizzly was pushed back by the black bear, the object leapt forward and, for the brief moment that it hung in the air, Mulan recognized the outline of a little wooden, bear-shaped totem on a string.
Mulan grinned and held up her hand to stop the others. "No, stop!"
"Mulan, what are you-?!" Shang hissed.
"I know that bear!" Mulan continued to smile as she watched the two bears quarrel.
Merida gaped at her. "What?! "
Mulan shushed her. "Just watch!"
They all stared at where the bears were still tearing at each other and stumbling about. The grizzly seemed to be shoving the larger bear back toward the trees, continually pushing it until its back met a large tree nearby. There was a creaking sound as the tree's stump began to crack. Noticing how the tree rocked slightly, the grizzly growled and kept shoving the black bear into the tree. After a few more shoves, the tree began to teeter dangerously. The black bear roared, enraged, and shoved the grizzly away from him. The grizzly slid back, carefully drawing away from the other bear as it approached him, not noticing the tree breaking and falling over behind him. The grizzly managed to get out of the way in time while the black bear, blinded by its fury, didn't observe the long, dark shadow falling over it. As the black bear snarled and started to leap at the grizzly, the tree crashed down onto it, crushing it and causing more dust to fill the air.
The group watched as the dust faded away to reveal the dead black bear pinned under the tree. A ghostly blue light wafted up from the bear's body, focusing itself over the tree and briefly taking the image of a hulking man. The spirit looked down at the dead bear, then up at the grizzly that stood before and watched. The spirit solemnly nodded his head in thanks, then disappeared. The grizzly released a gutteral sigh, deflating slightly as it breathed heavily. Then, it slowly turned to the others with big brown eyes. It took a few hesitant steps toward them, and most of them immediately drew their weapons.
"Wait!" Mulan yelled, holding up both hands now, and standing between them and the bear.
"Mulan, have you lost your mind?" Shang demanded as she moved toward the bear.
She rolled her eyes as she approached the animal, reaching up one hand to pet the top of its head. The bear seemed pleased by this and leaned down into her touch. Mulan laughed and used both hands to scratch the bear's face and stroke it's muzzle. Then, her hands moved down to the wooden totem tied around its neck. She shared a look with the bear before pulling the necklace off over its large head. The bear was immediately engulfed in golden light and carried up into the air. Everyone watched in awe as the light turned around and around, slowly changing shape and shrinking down. The light faded away as it drifted back to the ground. The light completely melted away to reveal Kenai standing before them, holding the leather pack on front of his lap to shield his nudity.
"Kenai!" Mulan cheered, running to him. Then, she stopped herself, her face turning red. "You're, um... You're naked."
"What are you doing here?" Shang asked.
"Blue put magic in my totem, so I could come help you guys..." Kenai began to explain, blushing. "Um... Could you guys turn around so I can get dressed? Then I'll explain more."
They all turned away from him, listening as Kenai quickly shuffled through his bag for clothes and began to explain.
"See, she came up with the idea of turning me into a bear and sending me after you when she realized who was attacking you. Unfortunately, she couldn't send me in time to stop the wolves... Sorry about Kocoum. But when that bear came after you, she knew it was the only solution; to fight fire with fire. See, that demonic bear wasn't actually a bear. It was a Prince- a human Prince, named Mor'du, who got into a but of a tryst with the goddess, Eris, a few centuries ago, and somehow found himself in our zoo. It's all really weird, but..."
Rapunzel was staring at the skeletal hand that still reached up from the ground, cracking nastily as it twitched and failed around to try to grab at something.
"And just what the hell is that about?" Peter asked generally, pointing at the undead hand.
"The Horned King has started raising the dead." Kenai sighed as he walked toward them. They all turned back to him to see him fully clothed and tucking his totem into the pack that he had slung over his shoulder. "Apparently that's why he wanted that cauldron Merlin won't shut up about. To attack us with legions of the undead." When he looked up to see them all staring at him, he added, "Yeah, a lot's been happening since you guys left. That's why Merlin and Yen couldn't come to help you with the wolves or the bear... They've got their hands pretty full."
"And what about Blue?" Pocahontas asked. "Why couldn't she come get us?"
Kenai's face fell. "Well... She and the other fairies are busy trying to protect the bunker."
"What happened at the bunker?" Shang asked.
Kenai set his jaw. "It's a lot to explain. I'll tell you guys on the way. We should start moving now, though. We don't want to stay out here." He took Mulan's hand and began to lead the way back to the bunker. "There's way more than just wolves and bears lurking out here..."
"Like what?" Rapunzel asked, looking around in fear.
"Panthers, jaguars, crocodiles, snakes, baboons, lions and tigers and-"
"Oh, my." Peter commented, cutting him off.
"Well, at least we have you with us now." Mulan put in cheerfully, leaning on his shoulder. Kenai leaned down to kiss the top of her head.
"Yeah. Thanks for the help, Kenai." Shang added begrudgingly.
Kenai gave him a careful look as he replied, "No problem."
They all walked for about an hour, listening intently as Kenai solemnly explained the events of the last hour to them. They couldn't quite process it all, letting the information wash over them, displaying how astounded and upset they were with their expressions.
Rapunzel slowly shook her head. "I... I can't believe it." Tears filled her big green eyes. "How...?"
"I don't know exactly how." Kenai replied. "I'm sure someone can explain it to us once we get there..." He paused as they reached a clearing. After a careful look around, Kenai said, "We should rest for a bit. The bunker's only a few more miles away."
"But you said that all those people are hurt..." Pocahontas said. "Shouldn't we go help?"
"Blue told me that my priority was keeping you guys safe." Kenai said firmly. "She and all the other fairies - and trust me, there are a lot- have it covered. Blue even knows where she wants to move the refugees. And honestly..." He shrugged. "How much help will we be against a threat like that?"
"Alright. Let's rest then." John sighed, sitting his weary body on a nearby log. Pocahontas sat next to him and rummaged through her bag, fishing out granola bars and fruit for anyone who wanted some.
Shang nodded. "I'm gonna take a quick look around. See if there's anything waiting to pounce."
Mulan's eyes lit up. "Can I come, too?"
His eyebrows popped up. "Sure..."
Kenai started to take a few protective steps toward her. "I'll come too, then."
Mulan placed a hand on his shoulder. "No, sweetie. You should stay with the others. It's more important to protect them..." She nodded toward Rapunzel and Peter. "...than it is to protect us. Besides, Shang and I can take care of ourselves."
Kenai nodded hesitantly. "Okay... Well, if you do see anything, come back here, okay? Or, if you need help, just call for me. Or-"
She giggled. "We'll be fine." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before disappearing into the trees with Shang.
After a few moments of silent walking, Shang finally looked over to see Mulan gazing around at the scorched environment. They lifted their feet high to avoid kicking up too much ash and dust that littered the once lush forest floor. Through the spindly black branches overhead it could be seen that the sky was once more reddening- the new signal of daybreak.
"Why did you want to come with me?" Shang asked abruptly, looking down at his dusty boots.
Mulan looked surprised for a moment, then just shrugged and smiled a little. "I really just wanted an excuse to walk around. Really see what's happened..." She trailed off as she looked around again. She sighed. "I haven't gotten to be in the woods for awhile... And while these woods are dead and overrun by wild animals and zombies, they're still ours." She looked over at him sadly. He nodded mutely and turned away, letting the meaning of her words settle over him.
"I guess I'm just surprised that you wouldn't want to spend all your time with Kenai now. I mean... I figured you'd want to stay close to him, under the circumstances." Shang commented quietly.
She laughed a little. "I honestly do. But... None of us know how much time we have left. It's important to be close to friends, too."
He looked at her with softened eyes. "I'm your friend?"
"It took me awhile to realize it, but...yeah." She grinned at him.
Shang found himself returning her smile. Then, the two of them walked together in a comfortable, peaceful quiet.
Not noticing the many pairs of glowing eyes watching them from the trees...
Back at the temporary camp, Merida was sharpening a few of her arrows while Pocahontas watched her scornfully for about five minutes. Finally, Merida groaned in annoyance and tossed her weapons aside, facing Pocahontas with narrowed eyes.
"What's your problem?!" Merida demanded.
"It just says a lot about a person... How comfortable they are handling weapons." Pocahontas spat back, sending a quick glare toward the arrows, then turning away from Merida angrily.
A gruesome image briefly flashed through Merida's head and she visibly softened. After a moment of hesitation, Merida stood up and walked over to where Pocahontas sat with John. She stared down at Pocahontas and the other girl glowered up at her. But another emotion was intermingled with Pocahontas' hatred: overwhelming sadness. Merida sighed and sat next to Pocahontas.
"I suppose you blame me for Kocoum's death... Don't you?" Merida asked quietly. "I mean, it was my arrow that killed him, ultimately."
Pocahontas stared at her for a moment, then shook her head and looked miserably down at her feet. "No... I don't blame you. I just..." She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. "I just wish it hadn't had to come to that. That I had been paying more attention... Then maybe it wouldn't have happened. And that burden wouldn't have had to have been laid on your shoulders. I've just been using your skills with that bow as a scapegoat for my own failure." Pocahontas's eyes filled with tears and she ran a nervous hand through her long hair.
Merida watched her for a moment, biting her lip. She shared a look with John and he silently nodded and stood up to walk away and give them some privacy. Merida sighed. "Let me tell you something..." Her voice dropped to a whisper and she leaned closer to Pocahontas. "What happened with Kocoum... It's weighed on me this entire time. I just haven't showed it because I figured that, with him gone, I needed to stay strong to make up for it. But now..."
Pocahontas heard her sniff and looked up at her in alarm.
Merida chuckled dryly. "Now it seems like there's no point. Because, while I know that what I did was probably the right thing, it will still haunt me forever. Every time I aim an arrow, I'll see his face. Every time I blink, I'll hear the sound the arrow made when I loosed it, see his body...jerk...the way it did when it hit him... I would do anything to take it back. To somehow change things. Maybe put myself in his place..." She was crying now, biting her lip and shaking her head. "But I can't. And you can blame me all you like. I deserve it; I'll take all the blame. But you must understand that it was the only thing I could do. I had to do it, Pocahontas. Because I was the only one prepared to end his suffering. To be eaten alive, it... It must be terrifying." Merida broke down into a sob.
Pocahontas quickly scooped her up in a hug and tried to soothe her. "Merida, please don't cry. I was just being an asshole before... Really, I shouldn't have treated you the way I did. Especially since, deep down, I knew that having to do that must be effecting you. I should have just been supportive, and thankful to you for putting Kocoum down honorably, but..." Her lip shook. "I let me emotions control me. And I'm sorry..."
Now the two girls just sat there, holding each other and crying. John sat nearby with Rapunzel and Peter, all watching. Rapunzel began to stand up to go comfort her best friend, but John stopped her, discretely shaking his head and whispering, "Let them get it out."
After a few moments of silence, Kenai sighed worriedly and shook his head. "Shang and Mulan should have been back by now..."
"Should we go look for them?" Peter asked. "I could fly up above the trees and-"
He was cut off by the wailing cries of at least a hundred angrily shrieking baboons in the distance. The noise was accompanied by Mulan's scream and Shang shouting something unintelligible.
"Let's go!" Kenai yelled, taking off into the trees. The rest of the group quickly followed. While the others ran on the ground, Peter sailed through the air faster than he dared, dodging trees and searching ahead for Mulan and Shang.
The two of them were sprinting away in a different direction, having been steered away from the route to the bunker by an army of angered baboons trailing them.
"I told you not to go near the baby!" Shang yelled.
"Well, how would I know that he had a fleet of enraged monkeys with him?!" Mulan cried.
Shang groaned. "Why don't you ever listen?!"
"I'm sorry!"
"Stop! "
Shang suddenly threw out his arm to force Mulan to halt. She nearly winded herself running into his arm, having been too busy looking at him to realize that they were running toward a ledge. Peering down, they saw that from here the ground became very steep, like a slide, ending with a dark, cavernous trench. The earthquakes must have caused it...
"What do we do?" Mulan panted.
Shang looked around. "There's nowhere else to go..."
"Oh, God..." Mulan groaned. She turned to look behind them and froze in terror. "Shang..."
He turned and followed her gaze to see the baboons gathered before them and staring them down.
"Just keep absolutely still... Maybe they'll go away..." Shang whispered to her.
"Mulan!" Kenai's voice could be heard calling from far away.
"Kenai, help!" Mulan called back.
Her sudden shout upset the baboons, sending them into a frenzy. One leapt at her, tackling her over the ledge. She screamed as she began to slide down toward the dark chasm with the baboon attacking her.
"Mulan, hang on!" Shang shouted, diving after her as the rest of the baboons began to slide clumsily after their companion. Shang let gravity drag him down through the loose dirt; He was practically in freefall as he slid head-first after Mulan, who'd managed to kick the baboon off of her. The monkey shrieked as it slid down ahead of her, grabbing frantically at the ground to try to stop itself from falling. Mulan turned over onto her stomach and reached up her hands for Shang to grab. He pushed himself forward and grabbed hold of one of her hands. She grabbed onto his arm with both hands while he spotted a large rock coming up a few feet to their right. He rolled into his back and through out his free hand to grab onto the rock, bringing him and Mulan to sudden and painful stop. Shang groaned as he lifted Mulan up to grab onto his torso while he pulled them both up to be shielded under the rock. The wildly-shieking baboons that sailed toward them were scattered when they struck the rock, sailing through the air and striking the steep, smooth ground violently hard. Their deafening screams slowly faded away as they slid off into the dark pit below.
Mulan and Shang clung to each other, both heavily breathing and staring at the edge of the chasm. They heard shouting above them and recognized Peter's voice.
"Guys?! Guys, where are you?!" He was darting around wildly in the air and searching for them, praying that they hadn't fallen with the baboons. He couldn't see them under the rock.
Shang struggled to reach up one hand and wave it around for him to see. "We're here! Under the rock!"
Peter sighed in relief, then realized that he didn't have the strength to carry them both. "Uh... Okay! Hold tight! I'll get help!" He zipped back away into the woods.
Shang sighed, ignoring the tight pain he felt in his arms as he hung from the rock. He looked down at Mulan and said, "Don't worry... We'll be out of this soon..."
She nodded nervously, shaking as she clung to him. "Of course..."
"Just don't look down..." Shang grunted as the muscles in his arms started to quiver. "It'll be alright..."
There was a shuffle in the dirt somewhere over their rock and Mulan turned her face up to try to see who was there. When she couldn't see anything, she peered around the rock and caught a brief glimpse of a twitching, striped tail. There was low growl from above and now she and Shang both looked up to see a massive tiger perched on the rock and looking hungrily down at them.
They were trapped.
The tiger roared and swiped one mighty paw down at them, nearly slicing Mulan with its claws and causing her to cry out. The tiger kept trying to attack, and Shang swung back and forth to avoid it. The animal snarled unhappily and slashed at Shang, catching him in the arm. Shang gritted his teeth to hold in a scream as blood flooded from the gash in his arm. He finally lost his grip on the rock and he and Mulan began to slide again, sailing with growing speed toward the edge. Mulan screamed while Shang threw up his hands in a vain attempt to grab solid ground. Mulan looked up to see the tiger running quickly after them, steadying itself by digging its claws into the earth with each step.
This gave her an idea.
Mulan quickly reached down a hand to pull her sword out of its sheath and, still keeping her other arm firmly around Shang, threw up her sword and stuck it into the earth over their heads, bringing them to a grinding stop in the dust. Now Shang hung onto her as she dangled from the sword's hilt. She spotted the tiger drawing closer to them and pulled out one of her daggers, sticking it in the ground where Shang could reach it.
"Grab onto that and wait here!" She ordered him. He grabbed onto the dagger and hung from it while she climbed to her feet and pulled up her sword, pointing it at the tiger that slid toward her. The tiger launched itself toward her and she swung her sword at it, slashing it's chest. The tiger roared and crashed to the ground in front of her, slipping forward and knocking Mulan's feet out from under her. Mulan did somersaults down the steep hill while the tiger tumbled downward a few feet from her.
"Mulan!" Shang shouted.
The tiger dug its claws into the ground and slowly skidded to a stop while Mulan rolled past it. Her legs swung out over the edge and into the open air. She ground her fingers into the dirt and finally slid to a stop, the entire bottom half of her hanging over the trench. Her sword had skittered to a stop far out of her reach. She tried to reach for it when she saw the tiger, which had regained its footing, prowling toward her again. But with just one hand holding her up, Mulan had little balance. The ground came loose under her clenched fingers and she fell further down. She wildly scratched at the dirt to stop herself again, her fingers straining when she was finally halted, now hanging off from the chest down, and with no hope of reaching her sword. Her next option was to reach down for her gun, but when she tried to hang from one arm she quickly started to slip again and was forced to reach up her other hand again to stop herself. The tiger growled as it slunk closer to her, preparing to pounce and baring its sharpened teeth.
A gunshot rang through the air and the tiger whined, stumbling forward. Mulan ducked as its limp body bounced over her head and sailed into the darkness below. She watched it disappear and then looked up to see Shang hanging from her dagger with one hand while he held his gun in the other and smiled at her. She let out a bubbly laugh of relief and started to try to climb up onto the ledge, slipping slightly and nearly losing her balance.
"Hang on! I'll come get you!" Shang called, putting away his gun and starting to shake the dagger loose.
"No! Just stay up there! I don't want you to fall!" She called back, trying again to lift herself up.
"I won't fall! Just hang tight!" Shang pulled out the dagger and allowed himself to slide down, moving at a steady pace by turning onto his back controlling the slide with his heels and his free hand. He stopped himself by sticking the dagger back into the ground a few feet ahead of Mulan, crouching and leaning over, reaching his free hand toward her. "Can you reach me?"
"I think so..." She grunted as she reached for him.
He leaned over a little further, throwing his balance into slight peril, and kept a calm look on his face. "Alright... Just take my hand..."
There was another growl nearby and they turned to see a lean, large lion with a black main and a scar over one of his gleaming green eyes strolling carefully toward them. Another big cat cried out from the other side, and Shang looked over at the lithe jaguar that was crouched and ready to leap into action, purring aggressively. The lion roared at the jaguar, who responded in kind.
They were getting ready to fight for their prey.
"Shang..." Mulan whimpered, her eyes impossibly wide with fear.
"Mulan, just take my hand..." He responded quietly, trying to stay calm and hide his own fear while he was trapped precariously between the two predators.
Mulan was shaking uncontrollably. "I... I can't..." She had gone rigid.
Shang looked between the two vicious cats, and started to move his hand agonizingly slowly toward his gun. "Okay... I'm going to deal with these two... And then I'll help you up. Okay?" He whispered.
She slowly shook her head. "Shang, don't..."
"It'll be fine. Just stay calm. And do not let go." Shang assured her quietly, slowly lifting the pistol. The lion spotted the weapon first and growled at the threat. The jaguar snarled.
Shang heard the others calling his and Mulan's names from the woods nearby; they were reaching the slope. The jaguar was momentarily distracted and looked up toward the noise, growling. Shang quickly pointed his gun at at, wanting to be rid of the predator that had more advantage on the slippery ground. He pulled the trigger and shot the animal in the shoulder, making it shriek. It flailed around and whined miserably, losing its balance for a moment and sliding dangerously toward the edge. It caught itself at the last minute when it saw the lion roar and leap at Shang, who was pinned with the lion perched on his back. Shang cried out as the lion's claws dug into his back.
"Shang!" Mulan screamed.
The jaguar turned toward her and growled, now creeping toward her.
"Mulan, look out!" Shang yelled.
She looked up at the panther, then toward her sword only a few feet away. She dug her fingers as deeply as she could into the ground and yanked herself up, propelled by adrenaline. She heard the jaguar yowl behind her and crawled toward her sword, scrambling in the dirt when she heard the thing running after her. She sprawled out on her stomach and grabbed the sword with both hands. She turned over in time to see the jaguar leaping toward her.
"Mulan, no! " Shang screamed when the jaguar bore down on her. Even the lion's attention was captivated by the scene.
Everything went still, and silent. The dust slowly settled. Shang watched in horror as the jaguar slowly rose up...
And heard Mulan grunt as she hefted its dead body over the edge, holding her bloodied sword firmly in one hand. She turned toward the lion that now roared at her and pointed her weapon at it. The lion tore itself away from Shang and slunk toward her. It took everything bit Mulan's resolve to focus on the predator and not on Shang's near-broken body.
Another, much mightier, roar resounded from nearby and the scarred lion froze, looking past Mulan at a new threat. She turned to see a larger lion with golden fur and a red mane coming their way, growling fiercely at the other lion. She used her sword as a pick to pull herself out of the way and get to Shang while the two big cats threw themselves at each other in a battle. She got to Shang and used the sword to brace herself on the slippery earth while she crouched protectively in front of him. Shang drew himself up slightly and they watched the two large lions fight.
"Oh, my God! Mulan!" Merida cried from above them, seeing them clearly without a rock interrupting her view.
"Shang!" John shouted, sliding to a step next to her to peer down at them.
"Are you two alright?" Pocahontas called.
"I'm fine, but Shang's really hurt! Just get us out of here, please!" Mulan called back, her fear and strain evident in her voice.
Kenai looked at Peter. "Can you fly them out?"
Peter sadly shook his head. "I don't have the strength. Even if I try to take them one at a time, we could all end up in that trench."
"You'll be our last resort, then. Go sit and rest." John told him.
Peter solemnly nodded and walked away.
Rapunzel groaned. "If only we had a rope or something..."
"It's my fault. I should have thought to pack some..." Pocahontas covered her face with her hands on shame.
"Now's not the time to blame yourself. Now's the time to think of some way to save them!" Kenai said.
"Besides, neither of them look fit to climb right now..." John muttered, rubbing his forehead.
Merida's face lit up. "Guys, I have it!"
"Have what?" Pocahontas frowned.
"We may not have a rope, but if we could make one, we could tie an end of it to one of my arrows! Then I could shoot it down to them, and we could all pull 'em up!" Merida explained excitedly.
Kenai grinned. "That's perfect!"
"Quick! Everyone get whatever you can out of the forest! We need to make a rope now! " John commanded. Kenai, Merida, Pocahontas and Rapunzel all ran into the woods. When Peter stood wearily up to join them, John stopped him. "Not you. You're still our Plan B. So you sit up here and keep an eye on what's happening down there and report to us while we make the rope. Got it?"
Peter nodded and took his position, crouching to look over the edge and down the slope while John jogged after the others.
Down below, the scarred lion had gotten the better of his stronger foe with a nasty slash to his face. The red-maned lion slid over the edge, catching himself with his front paws and dangling perilously over the chasm. The scarred lion stood tauntingly over his fallen foe, then dug his claws into the other lion's. The red-maned lion roared in pain and, when the scarred lion released him, he was flung down into the abyss with one last, fading roar. The scarred lion looked over the edge for a moment, then turned toward Mulan and Shang and started to climb up toward them. Mulan braced her legs and held Shang up on her back as she pulled out her sword with her shaking hands and pointed it at the approaching lion. The lion roared and, with one swing of his front paw, knocked the sword out of her grasp. Mulan screamed and held up her hands to deflect the next strike, paralyzed by fear.
"Mulan..." Shang grunted, slowly pulling himself up. He saw the lion prepare to bring its claws down on her and grabbed her with both hands, flinging her back and throwing himself between her and the lion. "No!"
Mulan gasped when the lion's claws met their mark and pierced through Shang's chest. Tears began to stream down her face when Shang slumped forward, using the last of his strength to grab onto the lion and drag it down with him. She watched in horror, sitting there and uselessly clinging to the slope as Shang slipped over the edge, taking the howling animal down with him.
Above, Peter turned shakily to the others with tears in his own eyes. Rapunzel was the first to notice while the others worked furiously to finish their makeshift rope.
"What is it?" She asked worriedly, her chest tightened with anticipation.
Peter shook his head and gazed back down at Mulan's frozen form. He quietly choked. "Shang..."
Mulan sat there, clutching the ground and haggardly breathing in dust, for what felt like eternity. Time seemed frozen as she stared at the spot where Shang had fallen over into the chasm, her entire body feeling like stone. Hot tears streamed down her face, spilling over her chin and down her neck, moistening her collar. She was shaking uncontrollably, but the fear of falling no longer plagued her.
An arrow suddenly pierced the ground next to her and she stared blankly at it. She looked at the end of the arrow and saw that some kind of rope, seemingly made from twine, was tied to it. She peered upward and her eyes followed the length of the rope until she saw a familiar shock of red hair above her.
"Grab hold, lass!" Merida called to her, but her voice sounded much further away than it really was.
Mulan wrenched her stiff fingers out of the ground and wrapped them around the arrow, allowing her feet to slip out from under her as the group started to heave her rigid body upward. About halfway up, Mulan started to come back to her senses and pulled up her feet, using her legs to carry herself up the slope while the others pulled. After a few minutes seemed to rush by but also drag at the same time, her feet met solid, horizontal ground and she was being led away from the ledge and swarmed by the others in an embrace. They all stood like that for awhile.
"Are you alright, Mu?" Pocahontas asked quietly after a moment, her voice thick with the strain of holding in her tears.
"I... I'm fine. But... Shang." Mulan's lip shook violently and she trembled. Everyone pulled away from her except Kenai, who pulled her closer. She turned and buried her face in his shirt, sobbing. "Shang, he's...he's..."
Kenai softly shushed her, stroking her hair. "We know..." He sniffed.
They all stood there for a long time with their heads ducked, trying to keep their tears silent. Then, they heard a distant explosion and they all jumped to attention. Mulan was still leaning into Kenai, though; She was practically catatonic.
"The bunker..." Kenai sighed, wiping away his tears. "We have to go now. And we have to go fast."
Everyone gathered their supplies and kept their weapons drawn as they jogged back into the hellish forest. Kenai lingered with Mulan, who hadn't made a move to follow and still showed no sign of doing so.
"Mulan..." He whispered, holding onto her shoulders and turning her to face him, forcing her to look miserably up at him. He tried to keep his heartbreak out of his expression, but still spoke softly to her. "We have to run, babe. I'm sorry, but we have to run. Okay?"
She sniffled and nodded her head.
Kenai quickly kissed her forehead, gripping her hand as he led her toward the trees. "Okay... Come on."
They all back-tracked to the previous clearing, thanks to Pocahontas's map, and then ran all the way back to the bunker, faster than they'd ever thought their legs could carry them. Their sprint was only egged on when they heard distant screams and spotted smoke clouding the red sky ahead. They pushed themselves off the trees in an effort to pick up speed as they flew through the forest. Then, when they reached what should have been the opening to the bunker, they all came to a stop, breathless.
"Oh, no..." Pocahontas breathed, voicing everyone's despair.
Hercules was busy defeating the Hydra at the base of Olympus while various gods and goddesses battled the straggling Titans and a few of the other monsters Hades and Eris threw at them. Most of the Titans had willingly fled back to their prison in that pit in the ocean, others had already been vanquished by Zeus, Hera, Athena or Ares, and now only a few remained in a stubborn attempt to reclaim Olympus. Hades and Moros had disappeared awhile ago, probably to rejoin Tartarus, while Eris remained and drifted around and watch and relish all the chaos.
It took a lot of effort, (and a few minutes inside the monster) but Hercules finally killed the Hydra, sending the beast and all its heads tumbling down the mountain and crashing to the earth. At the same moment, Zeus victoriously struck down the final Titan with his thunder bolt, letting out a boom of laughter. Then, Hermes fluttered over to Zeus with a distressed look on his face and whispered something in Zeus's ear. Zeus's eyes shot wide open and he looked down at Hercules urgently.
"Hercules! The bunker has been attacked!"
"What?!" Hercules called in alarm. He looked around for Eris, narrowing his eyes when he realized she was nowhere to be seen.
"We can finish things here!" Zeus called to him, glancing toward where Athena was working on defeating Medusa. "You get back to the bunker as quickly as you can! Go, now!" He ignored the heavy glare that Athena briefly shot toward him.
Hercules ran over to Pegasus and leapt onto his back, giving him a firm kick in the ribs and crying out. Pegasus neighed and launched them into the sky, spiraling through the air and soaring over the clouds as he raced toward the bunker. Hercules gripped his mane and leaned forward, squinting against the wind that buffeted over them. They had to ride for awhile; Mt. Olympus was pretty far. But, with Pegasus's otherworldly speed, they reached the city faster than any normal horse would. They saw a flurry of people milling frantically around Main Street and dove toward them. The crowd made way for Pegasus to land and Hercules swiftly hopped off of him and strode toward where Merlin and Yen stood. Judging by their robes, they'd both been around for the disaster, but Hercules knew that Yen had to have joined much later because he'd been helping out on Olympus only a little while ago.
"What happened?" Hercules asked, searching the crowd for his loved ones. He saw his adoptive parents getting help nearby, Ariel scrambling around for supplies for her father and sisters and Marina, and all his friends seemed accounted for, but one face in particular was startlingly absent.
Merlin coughed, hacking up dirt that he'd been breathing in trying to free people from rubble and debris. "We were attacked... The bunker... It's been destroyed. Many people are hurt, and a few..." He trailed off.
"Killed." Yen finished stonily. "I knew I shouldn't have left..."
"As if we're so incompetent that your imperious and powerful presence would have ensured this wouldn't happen!" Blue snapped bitterly as she worked to heal an elderly woman nearby.
"The attack... It came from the inside. None of us were expecting it." Glinda miserably shook her head, holding a small child and bouncing him on her hip.
"Where's Meg?" Hercules finally asked, anticipating the worst.
His blood felt as though it were freezing in his veins when he saw the way all their faces fell.
"Oh, Hercules..." Merlin started, then sighed, regretfully shaking his head.
"No..." Hercules whispered, then shouted, "No!" He pushed through them and sprinted off into the forest, ignoring everyone who called after him.
"Hercules, no! Come back!" Blue called.
"You don't understand!" Glinda cried in despair.
Yen bowed his head. "Let the boy search all he wants. We'll explain everything when he comes back."
Hercules raced into the smoldering crater that the bunker had become, rushing around and digging through debris and ash and crumbled walls for Meg. He desperately called her name as he ran around and dug everywhere, but there was no answer. And Meg was nowhere in sight... Eventually, Hercules slumped against the remains of a nearby wall in exhaustion, looking helplessly up at the sky.
"Well... Looks like you're in a bit of a pickle, eh?" A sarcastic voice asked from nearby.
Hercules turned to glare at Hades, then stood squarely to face him. Hercules demanded, "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I'm here to help you! Of course, I'll be needing something in return first, but..."
"Not interested." Hercules snapped, turning away.
But Hades suddenly appeared in front of him, grinning maliciously. "Just hear me out, Sunspot. I think I have something you'd be very interested in... Ya' might wanna know what it is before you turn me away."
Hercules scoffed. "And what is that?"
"Meg."
Hercules' expression softened. "What?"
"That's right. I've got your little girlfriend, tucked away where you can't find her... Unless you cooperate. See, Herc, if you go along with my offer, I'll bring her to you right now, safe and sound. Interested?" Hades wriggled his eyebrows cockily.
Hercules narrowed his eyes at him. "What do you want? You've already lost Olympus."
"Yes... But maybe not for long." Hades chuckled. "If you relinquish your godly powers to me and put yourself out of the game, I'll make sure the next time you see Meg, she's alive. Now, doesn't that sound nice?"
Hercules looked doubtfully at the wreckage surrounding them. "People are gonna get hurt, aren't they?"
"Uh, people are already getting hurt despite all your heroic efforts, Wonder Brat. But Meg... Sweet little innocent Meg, she's worth more to you than any of the other lives at stake, isn't she?"
"Stop it..." Hercules shook his head, torn.
"Isn't she?!" Hades demanded fiercely.
Hercules thought it over, wracking his brain for another solution. He couldn't think of one. He glared at Hades and pointed at him, "You have to swear that Meg won't get hurt at all."
Hades rolled his eyes. "Yeah, fine, I swear, no harm will come to Meg. And how about this? If she does get hurt, you'll get your powers right back. Huh? Whattaya say? C'mon." Hades held out one bony hand for Hercules to shake.
Hercules glowered at Hades for a moment, hesitating. Could he really do this? Could he really put so much on the line for one life? People were counting on him... Meg told him to be a hero for them...
I am being a hero, Meg. He thought. Your hero.
He didn't allow himself a second thought, Hercules slapped his palm into Hades' cold hand and they shook on it. Hades laughed as a golden glow rolled off of Hercules' skin and pooled into his grey palm, glowing vibrantly and then fading away. Hercules was visibly drained of his strength, having lost some color in the transaction. His eyelids drooped nearly shut and he fell to his knees. Hades stepped back and sneered at the fallen hero, his yellow eyes gleaming dangerously.
"Now..." Hercules moaned, his head spinning. "Where's Meg?"
"Oh!" Hades grinned, snapping his fingers. "I almost forgot, and this is the best part..." He chuckled darkly and gestured with one arm as an orb of ethereal purple light formed in the air nearby, hovering there for a few seconds. Then, there was a rushing sound as the orb became a ball of purple frame that grew and twisted into its true form.
Hercules felt the air rush out of him, as though the flame was smothering all the oxygen out of the area. An uncomfortable heat radiated toward him and the purple glow danced over his paled skin. He gazed in awe into the heart of the fire, recognizing the vague shape that was springing to life before him.
"Meg?" He whispered in disbelief.
A/N:::
Hopefully the chapter being so long and action-packed makes up for it taking so long. XP Sorry about that. But hopefully you guys enjoyed... Right? I mean, personally, I feel like it was a slow start. But then, once we got through the business of saving Kida, I think it actually started to pick up. I dunno, what did you guys think? Was it at least readable? Hahaha.
Omigosh I actually nearly cried writing Shang's death. DX I actually re-thought keeping that plot point in, it was so emotional. I mean, when I first thought of it, I was like "Ooh, that could make for really awesome character development for Mulan! I should do that!" (By the way, she will be getting another moment to shine, don't worry.) But then actually executing the scene... Wow, that was hard.
AND I JUST REALIZED THAT THE WORD "EXECUTING" WAS PROBABLY THE WAY WRONG WORD TO USE AND I'M SO SORRY!
Any way, don't hate me too much, guys. I know a lot of people (including me) love Shang. And I actually wish I'd focused more on him before. But you'll see how important he really is because of how his death effects Mulan. I promise, in the end, things will feel alright. And don't send me messages or leave reviews begging for him to be brought back, because he's really gone. So sorry.
Some of your guys' biggest questions are about to be answered, FINALLY. We're pretty much on the home stretch, people. Who's ready?
What are your predictions for the next chapter? Feel free to leave them in a review!
Also, what are your guesses for which animals I was referencing in the forest? Some were obvious, but I wonder who your guys thought of for the ones we didn't get to actually meet? Specifically the ones Kenai mentioned. ;)
Hopefully you guys are still with me. It's been a ridiculously long ride, and I couldn't wish for better people to be on it with. Love you guys.
Til next post...
